This Job of Mine
by Kit-cat99
Summary: Tony's got a past that's about to be cracked open when the latest victim is an old friend and the culprit an old enemy. Tony/OC COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**This Job of Mine**

Summary: A case turns personal when Tony is more then a little connected to the victim. Is it just some random case of coincidence or is it an attack on Tony?

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do NOT own NCIS or the notable characters.

A/N: Alright, let's see if I can get good reviews for a story I've written based on a show that I actually watch from time to time (since I don't seem to watch Supernatural or Big Bang Theory and those are my popular stories). This was such a vivid dream I had that I HAD to turn it into a story. Even the names are bright and clear in my head and that rarely happens.

* * *

"Who dumps a body on a beach when there's a forest right over there?" Tony asked, examining the body.

"Maybe they didn't feel like carrying it over there." Ziva said. "Although that doesn't explain the trail of blood."

"Trail of blood?" Tony asked. Ziva nodded to blood dotting along the sand. "Maybe there's someone else involved."

"Well McGee's in there." Ziva said, taking a picture of the body. "If there is someone else, he'll find them."

"You know this guy seems sort of familiar." Tony said. He crouched down and picked up the dead body's hand. He turned it over and moved to push up the man's sleeve.

"TONY! ZIVA!" Tim yelled. "Got a live one in here! Female!" Tony dropped the guy's hand and went to the forest. He found Tim crouched down by a bloodied body. For a moment he wondered how the woman was alive before he was hit with an even stronger sense of familiarity.

Light brown hair was darker due to dirt and blood. One eye was swollen badly and there was a gash on the woman's forehead on the opposite side. Her wrists were bound and bleeding and her clothes were torn and bloodied all over. Her throat had bruises as if someone had attempted to strangle her. Tony's eyes were drawn to a necklace around the woman's neck. It was a silver chain, spotted with blood, with a dolphin curled around a blue-green orb hanging off it.

"Oh god." Tony said, instantly recognizing the initials carved along the dolphin's body. He recognized the whole necklace actually.

"What?" Tim asked.

"Lila." Tony muttered. Tim stared at him.

**Ten Years Ago - ****Baltimore**

"Curtis, this is your new partner." Lila looked up from her computer and brushed her light brown hair from her face. "Anthony DiNozzo, this is detective Delilah Curtis."

"Hi." Lila said.

"Well hello." Tony said, holding out his hand. Lila raised an eyebrow but took it. Tony smiled at her and she got the sudden impression that he was flirting with her.

This boy was in for a wild ride.

"So how long have you been working here?" Tony asked, leaning on the desk.

"Almost two years." Lila said, turning back to her computer. "I hear you transferred."

"Yeah, from Philly." Tony said. "Spent about...eighteen months there. Before that I was Peoria for two years. That's in..."

"Illinois, I know." Lila said.

"What uh...what are you working on?" Tony asked.

"Report." Lila said simply.

"On..." Tony said.

"Last case." Lila said. "And no I don't need help because you don't know what happened."

"Your last partner got shot." Tony said. Lila paused. "Currently they're in ICU with internal injuries. The partner before that fell five stories, broke their collarbone...seven months ago." Lila looked at him. Tony grinned. "Oh yes, I'm that good."

"Funny...I wonder what'll happen to you." Lila said, turning back to her computer. Tony sighed and sat down at the desk across from Lila's. She glanced at him but said nothing as she continued to type.

Tony watched her, having nothing else to do. His eyes following her tan hand as she lifted it up to brush her bangs from her face. Her head tilted slightly as she worked and Tony grinned when he noticed the tip of her tongue between her lips. Her hand lifted again to rub at her head and Tony noticed a ring on her finger.

"How long?" He asked before he could stop himself.

"Sorry?" Lila asked, looking at him.

"The ring..how long." Tony said.

"What...oh that." Lila said, looking at her hand. "Just engaged, going to get married in about three months. Been engaged about a year now so you know...about time."

"Yeah." Tony said, slowly.

"What about you? Anyone big and special in your life?" Lila asked.

"Just me." Tony said.

"Must be lonely." Lila said.

"Only once I find the right girl and I can't have her." Tony said. "Until then...it's plenty fun." Lila shook her head but Tony saw a hint of a smile on her face. Smiling himself, he leaned back and continued to watch her work on her report.

**Present**

"I'm going with her." Tony demanded as the paramedics wheeled Lila into the back of an Ambulance.

"Who are you?" One of them asked.

"NCIS." Tony said. "I'm going with her." Ziva and Tim stood back, watching in curiousity and slight amazement at the determination in Tony's voice.

"Alright fine, get in." The paramedic said. Tony jumped into the back and turned to look at his coworkers.

"Tell Gibbs." He said, just before the doors shut.

"Tell Gibbs what?" Tim asked. "That Tony's gone crazy?"

"Following a victim to the hospital." Ziva said.

"Get a mask on her." One of the paramedics said. Tony, who had explained already that he had had to perform CPR, watched the paramedic strap a breathing device to Lila. "She's lost a lot of blood."

"We'll figure her type when we get to the hospital." The other paramedic said.

"A positive." Tony said.

"What?" The first paramedic asked.

"A positive." Tony repeated. "It's the same as mine."

"You feeling generous...NCIS?" The paramedic asked. Tony's only reply was shrugging off his coat and rolling up his sleeve.

"Her name is Delilah Curtis." Gibbs said, walking through the hospital nearly an hour later, Ziva and Tim on his heels.

"Yeah but who is she, boss?" Tim asked. "To Tony I mean."

"She is...was his partner in Baltimore." Gibbs said.

"Tony was in Baltimore?" Ziva asked.

"Yeah, eight years ago." Tim said. He looked at the back of Gibbs' head. "She's the one he never talks about?"

"Yes." Gibbs said.

"I thought she was dead or something." Tim said.

"Think again, McGee." Gibbs said, turning into the hospital room and pausing.

Lila had been cleaned up some which might have just made her look worse. Her eye that wasn't swollen had a large dark circle under it. Her skin was pale, even in contrast with the white room, bed, sheet and gown around her. Her one arm was in a cast, her head was wrapped up, and her other arm had a needle in it that was currently connected to a machine that was also connected to the arm of Tony as he sat in a chair, looking ready to fall asleep.

"How much blood you plan on giving her DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Doc should be back soon to shut it off." Tony said. "Said McGee found her just in time."

"Is she going to be alright?" Tim asked.

"She's out cold and they don't know how long she'll be that way." Tony said. "Lost a lot of blood and took a lot of hits. Her arm's broken, her knee was dislocated, she's got three cracked ribs..." He died off as he gazed at his sleeping ex partner.

"I'll go get some coffee." Ziva said, noticing the look on Gibbs' face.

"Uh...yeah, me too." Tim said. They both headed out, closing the door behind them. Gibbs grabbed a chair and sat down, watching Tony.

"Lester?" Tony asked.

"Yeah." Gibbs said, sighing. Tony shook his head. "I think...Delilah killed that guy, to get away."

"That's the only reason she'd kill someone." Tony said, quietly. "She hates it...hates the idea..."

"I know." Gibbs said. "Look...Tony..."

"I'm stopping this guy Gibbs." Tony said, looking at his boss for the first time since he came into the room. "Once and for all. He should have never gotten away and now...now he has people..."

"This case just became too personal, DiNozzo." Gibbs said. "You'll let your emotions get the better of you."

"I can't let him hurt any more people." Tony said.

"Tony." Gibbs said. "Just what is Delilah...to you." Tony was silent for a long while as his gaze shifted back to the unconscious woman in the bed. He listened to the heart monitor beeping steadily, watched her chest rise and fall with every artificial breath filtered from the mask on her face. Her hands lay lifeless on either side of her body and the purple bruises up and down her arms and neck stood out horribly against her pale skin. He had never seen her look so pale, she always had that soft, sun kissed look but now it seemed like she hadn't seen the sun in weeks, maybe months. He wondered what had happened, where she had been.

"Someone big and special." Tony said finally and quietly.

* * *

Alright so first chapter here. Who wonders if Tony's meaning the same sort of "big and special" that Lila meant in the flashback? And for that matter, who wonders if she knows?

I know I have Unnatural Wonderland and The Weaton Challenge to work on but I had to do this.


	2. Stage One

**NCIS**

I'm glad this got good reviews. I'm always scared to start new stories, not knowing what people will think about it. And a couple of people pointed out the mistake I made last chapter. Ziva would know that Tony was in Baltimore, my bad, I forgot she would have found out everything about each of the team when she first joined.

* * *

"So...who is this Lester?" Ziva asked, arms crossed as she looked at the screen.

"Lester Emilio Randalls." Abby announced, bringing up a profile.

"The last case Tony and Delilah did together." Gibbs said, walking into the lab and handing Abby her Big Gulp. "He was a pain in their ass. When he got away, they got split up, and Tony came here."

"How do you know so much about her, boss?" Tim asked.

"She visited a few times before you joined." Gibbs said.

"Scared her off?" Ziva asked, looking at Tim. He gave her a dirty look and she just grinned slightly before looking back at the screen.

"He's been causing trouble on and off for the last eight years since then." Abby said. "But see because he's like some Mafia guy or something, nothing can really be traced to him. His last crime that he got away with was killing a marine so we have liable reason to take this case."

"Knew you'd come through Abs." Gibbs said, kissing the goth girl's head. She smiled proudly and sipped her drink. "How long ago was that?"

"Ten months." Abby said. "The uh...case the other team had that they couldn't solve, that was it. Lester Randalls had the alibi, the witnesses...and the money to get out of it."

"But we know it was him." Gibbs said.

"Uh huh." Abby said, nodding. Her black pigtails flopping around her head. "I've used all the information Tony and this Delilah had on him, and each crime fits into his profile. It's just...no real way to prove he did any of it."

"Unless we get him to confess." Ziva said.

"No one's going under cover for this, David." Gibbs said, his eyes on the screen. "It doesn't work." Everyone was silent as they studied the profile. The only noise was Abby sipping her Big Gulp.

"How is it that Tony cares so deeply for a woman he has not seen in...seven or eight years?" Ziva asked.

"Somethings you just never lose or forget." Gibbs said absently.

**Ten Years Ago - Baltimore**

"Doing okay over there DiNozzo?" Lila asked, mockingly with a slight smile on her face.

"I've been doing this stuff a lot longer then you have sweetheart." Tony said.

"Uh huh." Lila said, crouching by the dead body. "Poor guy...didn't see it coming." Tony looked over the body. The face was smashed in, it's hands were bent and twisted at grotesque angles, and there was a mass amount of blood between the legs.

"I say it's a feminist hate crime." Tony said.

"Why, because his balls are smashed?" Lila asked, making Tony flinch.

"Absolutely." He said. "No guy would do that to another guy."

"This is Baltimore, DiNozzo." Lila said, standing up. "Anyone would do anything to anyone here."

"Oh, kinky." Tony said.

"It's amazing you've lasted a month here already." Lila said.

"I'm persistent." Tony said. "And you sort of like it."

"I'm sort of engaged." Lila said, rolling her eyes and turning back to the body.

"Doesn't mean you can't still appreciate other things." Tony said.

"Work, DiNozzo." Lila said. Tony shook his head and crouched down, looking over the body. He started taking pictures as Lila moved around the scene.

"You know...I don't like your fiancee." Tony said.

"That's a surprise." Lila said, sarcastically.

"No I mean it, he gives off the wrong vibes." Tony said. "I don't trust him."

"He's a great guy, drop it Dinny." Lila said.

"Dinny?" Tony asked, looking at his partner.

"It's shorter then DiNozzo." Lila said, shrugging.

"So's Tony." Tony said.

"You're Dinny." Lila said.

"Whatever...damn, you really can't shorten Curtis much can you?" Tony asked. Lila just smirked.

**Present**

"Mr DiNozzo." Tony looked up at a nurse talking to him. "Do you know if there's anyone that we'd need to call? Family...friends?"

"Only family of hers that I know...is dead." Tony said.

"We'll do a search." The nurse said, nodding slightly. Tony nodded as well before turning his eyes back to Lila. He gave her good hand a slight squeeze. He was glad that it was warm at least, instead of cooling.

"Always gotta give me a hard time don't ya?" Tony said, laughing slightly. "No matter what the situation." He brushed his thumb across the back of her hand, running over a scar there. He sighed and looked down. "You gotta keep giving me hard times you know." He looked up at Lila's face. "I'll be right back, I promise this time." He stood up and walked out of the room, needing to think.

"This tattoo is an impressive bit of artwork." Ducky said, turning the body's arm over to indicate to a tattoo on the dead man's wrist. The same waist Tony was aiming to look at before Tim started yelling.

"He's part of Randalls' gang alright." Gibbs said.

"Yes, so it would seem." Ducky said. "How is Tony doing?"

"I don't know." Gibbs said. "He hasn't left the hospital all night, I haven't talked to him since I left there."

"It's a shame what happened to Delilah." Ducky said. "She's such a bright young lady." He looked over the dead body before him. "Abby said that the prints on Delilah's next match this man's fingers."

"Yeah." Gibbs said. "Do me a favour."

"Of course." Ducky said.

"If Tony comes around or calls...don't give him any information." Gibbs said. "I'm worried he'll do something stupid."

"As am I, Jethro." Ducky said.

**Ten Years Ago - Baltimore**

Tony stood back and watched, because that's all he could do, she wouldn't let him near her. He stood and watched as Todd, Lila's Fiancee, was carted away in handcuffs and a police car. Lila stood nearby, arms crossed, eyes blank.

He had been the killer.

Not only that, but he was a wanted criminal, having assaulted and raped several young girls since before he met Lila.

Tony shook his head and drifted his eyes from the cop car over to his partner. Her whole expression was blank as she watched the car drive off. The only thing that gave anything away was her finger nails digging into her arm. She had a bright red hand print on her face from when they had tracked down Todd and he had slapped her in his attempt to escape. Tony had ultimately been the one to take the man down and he narrowly avoided getting stabbed by a concealed knife.

"_Together, right baby? Together."_

Todd had said that to Lila, trying to get her sympathy. Thinking he could turn her off her job and let him go. When she had shook her head violently, proving she would do no such thing, the man had lost it.

"Lila..." Tony started.

"Just don't DiNozzo." Lila said. "I'm not in the mood for your 'I told you so'."

"I was going to say sorry." Tony said. Lila looked at him. "That wasn't an easy thing to do, I know." He walked over to her slowly and carefully pried her hands off her arms. He knew, under the sleeves, there would be little crescents marking her skin, probably leaving bruises behind as well. "It hurts to do what's right."

"Yeah." Lila said, quietly. She looked down at where Tony held her hands. She took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. "Guess I have a lot of cancellations to make."

"Guess so...unless you can manage to find a guy in two months." Tony said. Lila laughed slightly and shook her head, causing Tony to smile a bit. "I'll help...any way I can."

"Why?" Lila asked.

"Because...well...you're my partner." Tony said. "And...that's what partners do, help out each other."

"You're gonna stick around for a long while, aren't you?" Lila asked.

"You bet." Tony said, smiling. "And you and me...we're gonna be the best team this force has ever had." He put his arm around Lila's shoulders and started leading her back to their vehicle. "We're gonna rock this force. Nothing's gonna split us up."

"Nothing?" Lila asked.

"Well...unless we suddenly get sick of each other and try to kill each other in our sleep." Tony said. Lila laughed slightly.

**Present**

"Tony." Abby's voice carried down the hospital hallway and Tony turned around just in time to catch the little goth girl colliding into his chest for a tight hug. He nearly dropped his coffee but managed to keep a firm hold on it. "Oh Tony I'm so so sorry about Lila. Is she going to be okay?"

"Well she's not on the edge of death anymore." Tony said, simply. "You got good news for me Abs?"

"Well..." Abby said.

"I know Gibbs doesn't want me knowing the progress." Tony said. "But I can't do nothing Abby."

"Well...the team has a reason to dig into this." Abby said. "Previous victim was a marine. If I get anything remotely useful, I'll let you know." Tony nodded his thanks. "I brought you soup." He looked down to see that Abby was indeed holding a little tupperware container with what looked like chicken noodle soup in it.

"You're the best Abs." Tony said.

"I know." Abby said, smiling.

* * *

So I'm trying to keep the flashbacks in order. Trying to keep the team from saying certain things that would bring up other flashback appearances is hard work lol.


	3. Until We Bleed

**Until We Bleed**

This is where things mostly turn to being flashbacks with a few spots for present day happenings. As I'm no good with the crime scene science babble stuff that tends to make up most of the procedural crime show episodes, this story basically just follows round Tony and Lila's experiences together with a few things from the NCIS team injected here and there.

**CHAPTER WARNING!:** This chapter is going to be a little dark and deal with rape in the second half of the flashback so please be aware of that. I try to find a balance between simple and graphic for these sorts of things but some people can still be disturbed or whatever so I feel the need to put this here.

* * *

**Ten Years Ago - Pasadena**

"Lila...Lila...come on, Lila, wake up." Tony's voice sounded strained and panicked. Lila opened her brown eyes and looked around. Her head was killing her, her hands were tied behind her back and her body was chilled. "Finally...had me worried."

"Remind me never to agree to another vacation with you, Dinny." Lila said, her voice sounding as strained as Tony's was. She groaned as she sat up, her body protesting with aches and sharp pains. Tony watched her with worried eyes but she didn't say anything.

A few days before her would-be wedding, Tony had announced that since they had finally gotten a case closed and all the cancellations for the wedding done, then he was taking Lila away for the weekend to relax. She had hesitated at first but ultimately ended up agreeing since Tony had turned into her closest friend and he would be looking out for her like always. They left Friday after work, spent a night in a hotel room (with two beds) and got in trouble Saturday afternoon. Tony had woken up to a door opening, a thud followed by a soft groan, and the door closing. He had sat up to find Lila beside him, looking in bad shape.

"DiNozzo, you listening?" Lila snapped. Tony blinked and shook his head. He went back to tugging on his own binds, trying to get his hands untied. "DiNozzo...don't ignore me."

"What?" Tony asked, calmly.

"Do you know where we are?" Lila asked.

"No." Tony said. Lila sighed and huddled up against the wall. Tony watched her before shifting himself over to her. "We'll be fine...we'll get out of this...I promise."

"Promise?" Lila asked.

"Yeah." Tony said.

The instant her head touched his shoulder, he knew he was a goner. Not to the bastards that had them, but to the girl currently using him as more then just physical support. She was a wreck before they even got to Pasadena and now with this mess just making it worse, the strong women he had met when he first joined was gone and it scared him to think about her not returning.

**Present**

"Tony DiNozzo, is that you?" Tony turned at the voice and came face to face with a man roughly his own age and height with sandy blonde hair and dark brown eyes.

"Dan...hey." Tony said, trying to keep his voice even. Dan had been a boyfriend of Lila's for a month and had spent time in rehab. Last he had heard, just after joining NCIS, Dan was clean and going on some self discovery bullshit journey. "What are you doing here?"

"The hospital called, told me what happened." Dan said. He looked in the hospital room. "Man, she doesn't look too good, how she doing?"

"About as good as she looks." Tony said.

"Well you were the guy who said she looked beautiful no matter what." Dan said. "Unless of course you've gotten over her."

"How did they get a hold of you?" Tony asked, ignoring the question.

"Oh I've been seeing Lila the last year or so." Dan said. Tony looked at him. Something didn't seem right but he couldn't for the life of him put his finger on it. Maybe it was because he never quite liked Dan. Or maybe it was just because Lila had never told him that she was seeing him again.

But then again, Tony and Lila really hadn't talked much in the last three years. Phone calls, e-mails, even letters were non existent after a while. They just stopped keeping in touch. Tony wasn't sure how it happened or when exactly it did happen but he wished it hadn't. Then maybe he could have known that something was wrong, that something was going on. Who knew what Lila had been dealing with since he last spoke to her. Guilt kicked in then and he wondered if the stopped communications had been his fault. Did he not respond to something she sent? It had been a couple of years and far too many hits to the head to remember clearly.

"Hey, you okay man?" Dan asked.

"I'm fine." Tony said.

"Shouldn't you be working on putting away the guy behind this?" Dan asked. "You are working NCIS still, aren't you?"

"Case is too personal." Tony recited mindlessly. "Can't get involved."

"Oh, right, gotcha." Dan said. He went into the room and Tony suddenly felt very suspicious. He followed the other man and sat down quickly in his chair before Dan could take it. The blonde man faltered but grabbed the other chair and sat down. Tony made a mental note not to let Dan be alone with Lila. It could have been nothing or it could have been something big but his gut wasn't letting him leave the poor girl's side until her eyes were open.

**Ten Years Ago - Pasadena**

He rammed his shoulder into the door again, ignoring the slight cracking noise it made this time. Several minutes earlier the door had been opened again and someone had shined a flashlight in his face. It wasn't until he had felt Lila get pulled away from him did he start reacting. He was too slow to catch them before the door shut and somehow, fueled with angry now, managed to finally tear his binds off his hands. Now he was taking to trying to get the door to budge as he heard struggling outside.

"That's right sweetheart, keep struggling." Tony muttered. "Don't let them get to you...just hang on a little longer." He knew she couldn't hear him but it eased a tiny fraction of his worry, letting him finally focus. His shoulder was in pain but that wasn't his point of focus. He looked around the room, trying to find something that would work on the door. Nothing sprung out, nothing caught his attention, he was screwed.

Lila let out a loud string of swears and threats that changed into yelps and cries of pain. Tony's stomach clenched up. He tried to push away the mental images as they came. He started jumping around, hitting whatever he could to make as much noise as he could.

"HEY! HEY! FUCKERS!" Tony yelled as loud as his dry throat would let him. "I GOT MYSELF FREE! MY HANDS ARE UNTIED!" He kept going, screaming out things that he thought would provoke the guys holding them. Just as he was losing hope in his plan, the door was flung open. He jumped quickly, diving on the man in the doorway and knocking him over. His shoulder burned in pain as a gun fired and in the back of his mind he knew he not only had a gun shot wound there but it was probably more then likely dislocated from all the door ramming. He didn't stop to think on it as he punched the man in the head several times, waiting until he heard the crack of the man's nose breaking before he stopped.

Grabbing up the fallen gun, Tony paused for a moment as he got to his feet. With barely a second thought, he swung his foot out to kick the unconscious man in the crotch, just for added affect when he woke up. Tony then slipped away, following the noises and voices. It didn't seem as if these guys were paying attention or even heard the gun shot. His mind registered this as good as he pressed his back to the wall, looking at the silhouettes on the wall. There were two men, just standing, and another on his knees on a table, moving.

Tony's blood ran cold as he realized what that meant. He could hear the whimpers, see Lila's shadow as she weakly tried to fend off the larger man with only her legs at her disposal. Tony's eyes stung with tears as his angry grew. He took note to where every silhouette was before he spun himself around the corner and fired the gun. He wasn't aiming to kill, he never did when Lila was around.

She hated it.

The man on top of the girl fell back off the table, his pants around his ankles. The other two men were shouting in a corner, both clutching at their shot legs and arms, one of each for both. Tony moved quickly across the room heading for the last man. The guy was scared even though he tried to hide it. His hand was frozen, half way to reaching for his own gun. Tony took little pleasure in knowing that this guy realized he would shoot before the chance to grab a weapon even occurred. He readied the gun to fire again

"That's the only way you get girls isn't it?" Tony asked. "Kidnap and rape. Guys like you give the rest of us a bad name. You sicken me."

"Dude...come on." The man said.

"Beg me." Tony said.

"Wha...huh?" The man asked.

"Beg, you sick perverted little fucker." Tony said. He fired the gun, JUST missing the guy's crotch which was dangerously exposed.

The man pissed himself.

"Oh man come on, please...please don't do this..." The man said.

"Did she say those words?" Tony asked. He readied the gun again. "ANSWER ME!"

"Yes!" The man yelped out, his voice rising in octaves.

"Did she beg you to stop?" Tony asked. The man nodded. "Did you?" The man shook his head. "I didn't hear that...did you stop?"

"No." The man said, quietly.

"I'm sorry...what?" Tony asked.

"No." The man said, a little louder.

"I still didn't catch that." Tony said. "Did you...stop?"

"NO!" The man shouted, just as Tony fired an inch higher from his previous shot, striking the man right through the balls. He let out a loud pitiful scream as he clamped his hands over his crotch. Tony swung the gun down to hit the man in the head, knocking him unconscious and thankfully bringing the room to silence. The other two men had passed out from blood lose before the first shot was fired. Tony stared down at the man with a cold hard expression on his face.

"D-Dinny..." Lila's voice was small and weak but it snapped Tony's attention to her. He dropped the gun and dashed to her side. Her pants had been ripped off, laying in tatters on the floor by the table. Her shirt was torn up, hanging off her body. Her bra was pulled down to reveal her breasts which were currently covered in bite marks. Her panties were, thankfully, in tact, most likely just pushed aside. Her one shoulder was bruised up and slightly dipped, leading Tony to believe that it was dislocated as her hands remained tied behind her back. There were bruises on her arms, waist and thighs. She had a split lip and a black eye, her face was shiny with tears.

Guilt flooded over Tony like a dam breaking and his own tears ran free as she gently eased Lila into sitting so he could free her hands. The whole time, all he could say was "I'm sorry" over and over. When he finally freed Lila's hands, he held his own to her face gently, being mindful of where it would hurt her.

"Delilah, I'm so fucking sorry." Tony said. "I'm so so sorry. I shouldn't have let this happened. I just wanted to give you a nice time. Let you relax after everything. But it blew up in such a bad way." She didn't say anything, just looked at him as tears slid down her face silently.

**Present**

"Who's this?" Gibbs asked, walking into the hospital room and handing Tony a coffee. His eyes were on Dan who was reading a magazine, sitting at the end of the bed.

"Dan." Tony said, simply. He didn't elaborate and Gibbs didn't ask. The older man knew the hidden pain look in his colleague's eyes well. He knew most of the history between Tony and Lila and could only guess at which memories were playing themselves in the younger man's mind at that moment. "Any news?"

"No." Gibbs said, too simply to be truthful. Tony let it pass however as he sipped his coffee without blowing on it, burning his mouth but welcoming the feeling as a distraction from everything else going on in his mind. Dan must have been feeling uncomfortable under Gibbs' eyes because it wasn't long before he excused himself from the room. "Any progress with Delilah?"

"Not really." Tony said. "The doctor thinks she's going to need more blood still."

"What did you say to that?" Gibbs asked, already knowing the answer.

"Told them whenever they needed to, jab me up." Tony said. Gibbs nodded. "Am I crazy, Gibbs?"

"Just for her." Gibbs said.

"We haven't shared a word, written or otherwise, in three years." Tony said. "But I just...I instantly jump into this."

"Maybe you're still guilty over things." Gibbs said. "Seeing her again, beat up and broken..." He didn't miss the younger man's flinch at that. "Brought up guilt and bad memories. Human behaviour...compels you to do sometimes strange things." They were quiet for a while, nothing spoken for several long minutes.

"Boss..." Tony said, quietly. Gibbs just turned his eyes to look at him. "Would you think less of me if I said I was scared?"

"No Tony...I wouldn't" Gibbs said, softly.

Outside the room, the man paused, a frown crossing his face as he turned and walked quickly away. His hand reached into his pocket and drew out a cell phone. Dialing a number he held the phone to his head, ignoring a nurse as she tried to tell him off for using the device in the building.

"We got a problem." The man said roughly.

* * *

I know, I have a habit of doing stuff like that don't I? That little bit of someone spying at the end of a chapter.

This story doesn't really have long chapters but it's a vow of mine that they all reach at least five pages without having huge back and forward dialogue take up the most of it.


	4. The Holiday Revisit

**The Holiday Revisit**

You know what would be funny? Tony and bubbles...lol. Just a thought.

* * *

**Nine and a half years ago - Baltimore**

Tony lifted himself from his couch in his apartment as the knocking persisted. He looked through the peep hole in his door. A mass of dark brown hair was on the other side. Cautiously, he slid the chain off and unlocked the door before opening it.

On the other side, dressed in simple black pants, a blue sweater and her arm in a sling, stood Lila. Tony figured after her stay in the hospital and all the therapy the department made her go through, a change in appearance was part of the helping process so the dark hair made sense now.

"Boss said you asked for a transfer." Lila said, softly.

"Uh...yeah." Tony said. "He told me to just take some rest time first."

"Can I come in?" Lila asked. Tony stepped back to let her through. His own arm was in a sling as well from all the damage it had taken six weeks ago. Lila walked slowly into the apartment, her brown eyes looking around, taking everything in, and Tony realized this was the first time she had been in his place. Partners for nearly six months and she had never been in his apartment.

"Can I uh...get you anything?" Tony asked, trying to break up the silence around them.

"Umm...water." Lila said. Tony nodded and led her to the kitchen. He watched her carefully lean herself against the counter as he took the container for the filtered water from his fridge. "Why do you want to transfer?"

"I let you down." Tony said.

"But you said, unless we tried to kill each other, nothing's going to split us up." Lila said. She took the glass of water with a small thankful nod.

"Lila I would never be able to forgive myself if something like that happened again." Tony said.

"Then...then you stay with me...and it'll never happen again...because you won't let it." Lila said. She put the glass on the counter and looked at Tony, only to find he couldn't meet her eye. "Tony...you've become like...my best friend. I don't want to lose you as a partner. We work well together and we trust each other."

"I'm never going to forget what happened." Tony said. "I don't think I'll ever forgive myself." He was surprised when Lila carefully hugged him. His lifted his good arm slowly to return the hug, glad that they both had the same shoulder messed up so it would be a somewhat easier feat. He closed his eyes and sighed.

**Present**

"According to the files and some deep deep DEEP, like well digger deep, digging, I managed to figure out that Lester Randalls last known location was in Pennsylvania." Abby said, walking back and forward between the desks in the main area. Her eyes kept looking at Tony's empty desk. "But that was about five or six months ago. He could have moved."

"That doesn't explain how Delilah Curtis got to Washington." Ziva said.

"My guess is that if she didn't get brought here by Lester then she found her way here." Abby said. "She would have been trying to get to Tony either way, I'm sure of it. She either knew something was up and came to warn Tony, or she escaped and tried to get to him."

"Escaped?" Tim asked. "You think these guys had her hostage?"

"It's very possible McGee." Abby said.

"What do you think,Gibbs?" Ziva asked, looking at the desk next to hers.

"I think no matter what the case, we're going to need to establish a guard around that hospital room." Gibbs said. "Either way, once Randalls finds out that one of his men died and Delilah's not dead, he's going to want to finish the job. And obviously Tony's a big risk as well."

"Should we warn him?" Tim asked.

"I think he already knows." Gibbs said.

"So a year huh?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, time sure went fast." Dan said, shifting uncomfortably.

"I bet." Tony said. "You don't seem like the kind to stick around that long. If I rightly remember, part of the reason you guys broke up before was because you didn't like how much time she spent working."

"I didn't like how much time she spent around you." Dan corrected. "Everyone saw it with you two, don't try to hide it."

"Hide what?" Tony asked.

"Oh please." Dan said. "It was common knowledge that you were head over heels for her, and you did a poor job at hiding it."

"Huh." Tony said, nonchalantly.

"You gonna deny it?" Dan asked.

"Why?" Tony said. "If I don't it just confirms things. If I do, you probably won't believe me. There's no point. I know what's true in my head, and you have your own versions."

**Nine and a Half Years Ago - Baltimore**

(((A/N: My time line sort of sets Tony to have joined the Baltimore force in April just so everyone's clear.)))

Things were smooth sailing now it seemed. Tony stayed partners with Lila, they got through their training and testing that was needed after the ordeal they had and they got back into the job. They had worked just as hard, if not harder, to put away every perpetrator they came across. Each case they were given was closed in near record time.

It was nearing the end of December, the day before their holiday got to start, and they were the only ones left in the office, finishing up paperwork from their last case. Lila's head was tilted slightly, the tip of her tongue between her lips as her eyes focused on her computer screen. Her desk had a tiny little Christmas tree on it and she seemed, for the first time since the disastrous vacation, to be calm and happy, even peaceful. Tony was glad for that.

"So what are you doing for the holiday?" Lila asked, her eyes lifting up to look at her partner.

"Staying home, watching whatever's on TV...drinking." Tony said.

"No family?" Lila asked.

"Nope." Tony said, dropping his eyes to his own computer.

"You know..." Lila said, slowly. "My mom makes a lot of food. And there's only five of us to eat all that. My parents, me and my two sisters."

"You gonna bring left overs back?" Tony asked.

"I was thinking of that, yeah." Lila said. "But I was also thinking that maybe, if you wanted, you could come along."

"To meet your family?" Tony asked.

"Sure." Lila said. "If you want. And it'll just be like you as my friend...partner...so my dad will leave you alone."

"Do I need to buy them all gifts?" Tony asked.

"No." Lila said. "We'll pick up some sort of basket or something when we get to town."

"When are you leaving?" Tony asked.

"Tomorrow morning, catching a train to Pennsylvania." Lila said. "So do you want to come?"

"Uh...well..." Tony said. He looked at Lila and knew he couldn't say no to her. He smiled, not like he was even thinking of saying no anyways. "Sure, why not? I've been wanting to meet your sisters since you told me about them."

"Do not flirt with them." Lila said. "Or I will hang you."

"Threat noted." Tony said, nodding and smiling.

**Present**

He sat outside the hospital, needing the fresh air.

Abby had come by and volunteered to sit with Lila because Dan was coming in and out of the room and Tony still didn't trust leaving Lila alone. Abby had nearly forced him out. She had gone to his apartment on his request and found the photo album he asked for. Now Tony was sitting on a bench outside, looking over the pictures.

The album was made up pretty much of just Tony, Lila and her family which had become like his surrogate family. He smiled slightly at the picture of a beach visit, Lila and her sisters kneeling around Tony who was fast asleep and buried in the sand. His hands, feet and head were the only things visible. He flipped through the pictures, all of which were only taken over the course of nine months. For the first eight months he worked with Lila, he had only ever heard of her family.

He stopped at one of the first pictures in the album. A picture from the Christmas he had spent with the Curtises.

**Nine and a half years ago - Pennsylvania**

"Hello, anyone home?" Lila asked, rushing into the house to escape the cold outside. She held the door open for Tony as he came in with their bags and gifts. She had tried to help with them but he just told her to get the door open for him so she did as she was told.

"LILA!" A fifteen year old girl came running down the stairs, slid gracefully around Tony, and hugged Lila who nearly fell backwards from the impact. Tony put down all the stuff he carried and moved out of the way so Lila could close the door as she hugged her sister.

"Hey Nicole." Lila said. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too." Nicole said.

"Tony this is my youngest sister Nicole." Lila said. Tony smiled and shook the girl's hand when she held it out. She had the same light brown hair Lila had previously had but her eyes were blue rather then brown. She was dressed like she had just gotten out of bed in red pajama pants with Christmas balls on them and a green hooded sweatshirt.

"So this is the partner...he's hot." Nicole said. Lila put a hand over her face as Nicole smiled at Tony. He was a little taken back but grinned and lifted Nicole's hand to kiss the back of it.

"It's nice to meet you." Tony said.

"You too." Nicole said.

"Oh knock it off you two." Lila said. "Where's mom, dad and Jill?"

"In the kitchen." Nicole said. "Come on, shoes off." She bounced back up the stairs and disappeared around the corner. Lila kicked off her boots and pulled on a pair of slippers. Tony was glad she had warned him of this so he was able to buy a pair when they followed Lila up the stairs to the kitchen and was greeted by the smell of fresh baked cookies. He knew then that he was definitely going to like it here.

Lila's mother was Carol and Lila looked a near exact copy of her. Both had soft features, large doe like brown eyes, wavy hair (if Lila hadn't died her hair, it would have matched the light brown of the rest of the girls). Carol was a soft, gentle natured woman, Tony could tell by the way she acted with her family. He instantly liked the woman when she greeted him with a warm hug and soft greeting of Merry Christmas.

Lila's father was Jonathan and he gave Tony a narrow-eyed sweeping look when Lila introduced them. He shook Tony's hand with a steely grip which only loosened when Lila made it specific that she and Tony were partners and friends. Despite the strong resemblance to her mother, Tony could tell Lila was a daddy's girl as she hugged the man tightly and stayed close to him. The young man made it a mental note to never ever get on the wrong side of the older man.

Finally there was Jill, the middle daughter. She was twenty one and back home for the holidays from school. She had her mother's eyes and her father's reddish brown hair. She seemed just as flirty as Nicole had but took it farther, giving Tony looks and winking from time to time. She was more dressed up then either of her sisters in black pants and a tight, v-neck burgundy sweater. Her hair was done up neatly and she even had on some make-up. Tony found out later she was in school for fashion and cosmetology.

Dinner was simple since it was only Christmas Eve. Tony actually fit right in with the family and they made sure to include him in the conversations. Most of the conversations were about the cases anyways. Tony and Lila back each other up on several things and stopped each other from revealing too much that they weren't allowed to share.

"Oh man, you should have seen her a few years ago." Lila said, laughing so much she had to stop eating. "Jill was so goofy looking."

"Yeah yeah, Lila, don't need to rub it in." Jill said.

"Sure I do." Lila said. "I'm your older sister, it's my job." Tony smiled and leaned closer to Lila.

"So how goofy we talking?" He asked. Jill frowned.

"Big glasses, braces you could see across the room." Nicole spoke up, laughing as well. "She was so goofy."

"Says the nerd." Jill said.

"Hey, I like being a nerd." Nicole said. "My friends are awesome."

"Girls don't start fighting." Carol said. "Or you won't be getting any gifts."

"No way!" All three girls whined. Tony nearly choked on his beer as he tried not to laugh with a mouth full. Lila laughed slightly as she twisted around on the couch, leaning her back against Tony's side. His arm slid between her body and the couch without his mind knowing what it was doing. His hand rested on her hip, his fingertips lightly brushing along a strip of revealed skin. No one else seemed to notice either as they all sat around, just having fun and enjoying being around each other.

There was a mini apartment set up in the basement that Lila informed Tony about it having been hers when she still lived there. Her father had made it up when she felt she needed to move out but he wasn't quite ready to let her go. The house's second bathroom was part of it and there was a little kitchenette attached to the living room. There was also a bedroom with a large bed in it. Tony took the couch.

"This is nuts." He muttered, nearly two hours later. He blinked, staring at the ceiling, at the spiral pattern across it. He just couldn't fall asleep and it bugged the hell out of him. He hadn't had this much trouble falling asleep on Christmas Eve since he was a little kid. He listened carefully then sat up slowly. Distressing noises were coming from the bedroom and he had a good idea what was going on.

Lila lay shifting around in the bed, her hands twisting up the blanket in her fists. Tony sighed as he moved over to the bed and sat down carefully. His hand found her shoulder and gently shook it. She woke up quickly, her eyes flying open and darting around the room until they spotted him. She sat up and threw her arms around him.

"It's okay." Tony muttered, his arms securely around Lila. "Everything's okay, I promise. Nothing's gonna get you again." His hand moved softly up and down her back while the other one swept over her hair. He carefully kissed her forehead then her cheek. Even in the darkness of the room, he could see her eyes looking questioningly at him. Her head tilted back slightly and he did the only thing he could think of and that was leaning down to press his lips to hers. She was still for a moment and then her hand lifted up to rest on the side of his head.

He was surprised by her tongue running against his lips. His brain, functioning purely on the need to feel good now, made his mouth open. When her hands bunched in his shirt, his body willingly leaned forward as she went back until he was hovering over her, his arms resting either side of her torso, holding him up as his most stayed attached to hers. She kicked the blanket down and brought her leg up to wrap around his waist. His sense of right kicked in and he groaned before slowly and unwillingly pulling away from Lila.

"We can't do this." Tony whispered. His hand lifted to brush along her face, sweeping stray hairs out of the way. "Much as I want to..." At that, he swallowed hard and closed his eyes, shaking his head determinedly. "And man, do I want to...I can't take advantage of you, Li."

"Won't be." Lila tried to reason. Her arm, currently wound around his neck, tried to pull him back down but he didn't budge.

"Can you honestly say then that, if I won't be taking advantage of you, then you won't be using me?" Tony asked. Lila paused and turned her head to look away from him, giving the answer. "I'm here for you Lila, but I don't want to be used."

"I'm sorry." Lila whispered, sliding her arm and leg off him. As Tony slowly rose off the bed, she sat up and grabbed his arm. "Will you stay...at least? Please?" He looked at her, at the desperate expression on her face before giving a single nod. Lila shifted over and Tony climbed back into the bed with her. He held her to him as she drifted off into sleep and, ignoring his brain as it told him to go back to the couch, he closed his eyes and drifted off as well.

* * *

Okay so really long flash back there. Not really anything for the present stuff but who wants to see that right? Lol.


	5. Deeper in Trouble

**Deeper in Trouble**

The flashbacks are gonna be nice, outside the flashbacks however, not so much.

* * *

**Nine Years Ago - Baltimore**

"So what do you want for your birthday?" Tony asked.

"You're asking now?" Lila asked, nudging open a door carefully and peeking into the trashy apartment room.

"Well...yeah." Tony said. Lila shook her head slightly and grinned.

"I don't know, a good boyfriend, how about that?" She asked.

About a week after Christmas, with annoying prompting from Jill, Lila had started dating for the first time since Todd went to jail and it seemed every person she picked had something wrong with them. First there was Nick who tried to control her, hit her once, and got his wrist broken by Tony. Then there was Austin who was a drunk and unemployed and made the mistake of telling Tony of all people that he was sleeping with other girls. Tony had given him a black eye for that. Then there was Dan who lasted the longest so far. Nick had only lasted a week and Austin was barely two weeks. Lila had had made sure to put a week between each person. Dan went for a month before they had discovered he was into drugs and Lila had told him he needed help a few days ago.

"Yeah, you do seem to pick the bad guys." Tony said, aiming his gun around.

"Tell me about it." Lila said, her eyes darting around. She gingerly pushed open a door which turned out to lead to a bathroom. "Oh geez."

"What?" Tony asked, hurrying over. He gagged and covered his mouth.

"Found our perp at least." Lila said, pulling her shirt up over her face. The guy they had been looking for was laying naked on the floor in a puddle of puke and the room was messy enough to begin with as the toilet overflowed with something Lila didn't want to think about.

"And that, Charlie Brown, is why we don't do drugs." Tony said later when they were out of the building and breathing in fresh air.

"Oh shut up." Lila said, hitting his chest lightly. "Least I didn't gag Mr. iron stomach."

"Hey it stank in there." Tony said.

"You obviously never had to share a bathroom with two teenaged girls who loved perfume." Lila said, smiling.

"No, I did not." Tony said. "Thank God for that." Lila laughed and headed to the car as paramedics rolled the perp out.

**Present**

How long had it been? Was it more or less then a week?

Tony really wasn't sure but he knew it had been a while. Lila remained unconscious and he at least only had to have a needle in his arm a couple of times in the first two days. Abby and Gibbs were the only ones who came in every day. Tim and Ziva had been once since the first day and Ducky had shown up just a little while ago. He was currently in the room with Lila while Tony got to wander around and stretch his legs. He walked outside and came across Dan who was leaning on a lamp post, cigarette in his mouth.

"So you smoke now instead of other stuff?" Tony asked.

"Huh?" Dan asked, jumping. He looked at the cigarette as he pulled it from his mouth. "Oh...uh...yeah, guess so. Recent thing you know. But with all this...need something to calm myself down."

"What are you here for Dan?" Tony asked.

"Huh?" Dan asked.

"I don't think you've really been dating Lila again." Tony said. "So what is this? Why are you here?"

"She's my friend, I can't be here?" Dan asked.

"Not when you give off bad vibes." Tony said.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." Dan said, flicking away the remainder of his cigarette. "Bad vibes? That's all you're basing this on?"

"Basing what on?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You tell me." Dan said. They locked eyes and stared at each other for a long time, hard glares passing between them. "Look Tony, I'm not a bad guy. I'm not here for any reason but my friend being in danger. No, I haven't been dating her for the last year but we have been in touch several times. The hospital did call me because apparently I'm on her contact list."

"Why should I believe you?" Tony asked.

"I don't have anything on me." Dan said, putting his hands up. "I've been here for days. You think if I was bad and wanted to do something, I would be waiting this long to do it?" Tony looked at him carefully then nodded once. Despite not liking the guy, he had to admit that Dan did really make a good point. This whole thing had Tony on edge and he didn't like it. "We cool?"

"Yeah, I guess." Tony said.

"Good." Dan said. "I don't wanna hurt Lila. And I'm not here in the hopes that when she wakes up, she'll...fall in love with me or something. I already know that's how she feels for you."

"What?" Tony asked.

"You've been here in Washington for eight years man." Dan said. "But she hasn't married anyone. She hasn't settled down. Neither have you. It's not like any of us are young anymore. You got like what? Couple years until you're forty? Open up those eyes man...Lila is madly in love with you. Even when she doesn't talk to you she still talks about you. I have been around the last year, I've been caught up on everything."

Tony was left there, slightly stunned, as Dan headed back inside.

He knew there were feelings before but...

**Nine Years Ago - Baltimore**

"My birthday present...is dinner?" Lila asked.

"Yeah, I couldn't think of anything else." Tony said. "But hey, I got a good reservation at that place you like." He sat on the edge of her desk and looked at her computer. "The victim was Sandy Mitchel."

"Oh." Lila said.

"You've been a little spacey lately, you okay?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, just a little pissed." Lila said. "Lester Randalls is getting away with everything."

"Lester Randalls?" Tony asked. "The mob guy?"

"Yeah." Lila said. "Boss won't put me on any of the cases."

"Why not?" Tony asked.

"One of my best friends got killed." Lila said. "And also one of my partners. You're actually the longest lasting partner I've had since that one."

"So Randalls has it out for you." Tony said. Lila sighed and shrugged. "Is your family safe?"

"Got people watching them." Lila said. "But they don't know that. Got Jill's dorm room watched, security systems on the house, Nicole's high school has some people watching."

"What about your parents? They have jobs?" Tony asked.

"Mom's a columnist in the newspaper, emails her stuff in." Lila said. "And dad works at home." She smiled slightly. "You know you made a good impression on everyone. My folks are saying I should bring you around more often."

"Really?" Tony asked.

"Oh yeah." Lila said. "Mom laughed having you help like you did. You did exactly as she asked, and dad liked having another guy around. And of course my sisters think you're the hottest thing on this planet." Tony laughed and shook his head slightly. "I'm waiting for them to whip out the adoption papers or something just as nuts."

"They'll probably make you marry me." Tony said.

"Well I could do worse at least." Lila said. Tony looked at her but she said nothing else as she finished the report.

**Present**

Screaming in the hospital brought Tony out of his thoughts. He looked at the building and saw, through the windows, people running around. Frowning, he ran inside and headed for the source of commotion. His heart nearly stopped when he realized he was getting closer and closer to Lila's room. The crowd was just a bit away from the room and he pushed himself through the group. Ducky was standing over someone lying on the floor

"Ducky...what happened?" Tony asked.

"Daniel's been stabbed." Ducky said.

"Stabbed?" Tony asked. Ducky moved and Tony saw it, a knife sticking out of Dan's throat. "Did anyone see it?"

"I was in Delilah's room when I heard the screams." Ducky said. Tony frowned and looked around.

"Good thing Ducky was here." Gibbs said, crouching by Dan nearly half an hour later. "If he wasn't, whoever did this might have gone for Delilah."

"They wanted this to be quick." Tim said. He looked over to where Ziva was questioning a few nurses then looked into the room where Tony was back in his chair. "This is getting a whole lot more serious, why is this guy after them?"

"Not exactly them, McGee." Gibbs said. Tim looked at him.

* * *

Short chapter but I promise to get more in the next one.


	6. Baby Makes Three?

**Baby Makes Three?**

As per request...Tony in a bubble bath in this chapter.

* * *

**Eight and a Half Years Ago - Baltimore**

"Well this is different...nice apartment compared to all the crummy ones we usually get." Tony said. Lila rolled her eyes and walked over to the dead body. Tony picked up a picture and looked at the woman and child in it. There was no way the kid was older than a year. He looked away from the picture to the dead body. "Looks like the mommy got put to a permanent nap."

"Mommy?" Lila asked. Tony showed her the picture. "Wait...then...where's the baby?"

"You lot, look around, now." Tony said, looking at the police officers with them. Everyone spread out and Lila crouched down by the body. "What do you think?"

"I think we need to find the kid's father." Lila said.

"You think he did this?" Tony asked.

"Love your kid but the mom pisses you off." Lila said. She looked up at Tony. "Keep you away from the child...only way you get to see them if is if mom's not around anymore. Desperate people do some desperate things, Dinny."

**Present**

Tony had his elbows on his knees and his one hand gripping the other as he held them at his mouth, just watching Lila for any signs of waking. His lower lip was trapped between his teeth and the only reason he was gripping his hand so hard was to stop them from shaking. The attack on Dan had shook him up big time and it was all Tony could do to not start demanding Lila get moved somewhere more private and possibly secret.

"So you love her." Ziva's voice made Tony jump and he turned in his seat to look at his teammate. She walked into the room slowly. "That day has finally come."

"Did you get anything useful out of the nurses?" Tony asked, looking back at Lila.

"Man dressed in black was standing at the door for the room." Ziva said. "Your friend confronted him and he was stabbed."

"Nobody saw who it was?" Tony asked.

"I'm sorry Tony." Ziva said. She left Tony alone again and he resumed his earlier position. Angry tears were building in his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

And then his phone rang.

**Eight and a Half Years Ago - Baltimore**

"Kid's almost two years old, Jamie Hendricks was the mom, baby girl is Lucy." Tony read as Lila sped the car through the streets. He wondered sometimes why he bothered carrying the keys around if she was going to be doing all the driving. "The dad, Richard, abused the kid according to court papers. Blamed it on a daycare employee once. Divorce went through, he was sent to counseling, just started being able to see the girl again once a week, supervised."

"If the father of my kid ever laid a hand on my child like that, I would never let him come within fifty feet of us ever again." Lila muttered. Tony raised an eyebrow but said nothing. They pulled up at the house with the address the file gave them and got out of the car. Lila knocked on the door when they got to it and they could hear a child crying inside. Tony looked at Lila and she nodded. He tested the doorknob and was slightly surprised when it opened under his hand. They moved into the house slowly. There was a noise from the back and they hurried through.

"Hold it right there!" Tony said, raising his gun. The man, just about to reach for a back door, stopped. He held a little girl in his arms and he slowly turned around to look at them. "Put the kid down."

"This isn't how it looked." The man said.

"I'm sure it's not." Tony said.

"I swear it's not." The man said.

"That girl's reported as kidnapped." Lila said. "Wanna try that excuse now?"

"I'm her father...I didn't kidnap her." The man said.

"I'm sure it seems that way from your end." Lila said. "What about killing her mom?"

"What?" The man asked. "No! I would never kill Jamie."

"Put the girl down, sir." Tony said. The man held the girl tighter and she started squirming and crying louder. "You're going to hurt her."

"She's my fucking daughter!" The man snapped.

"DiNozzo...put the gun down." Lila said, softly.

"What?" Tony asked.

"Put it down." Lila repeated. Tony frowned but lowered his gun. "Look Mr. Hendricks..."

"That bitch took my daughter from me!" The man snapped. "She's my goddamn kid too."

"Of course...but you don't want to hurt her do you?" Lila asked. The man paused. "She's small Mr. Hendricks, if you hold her any tighter, you could break something." The whole time, Lila had been slowly moving closer and Tony watched her carefully. The second the man's hold loosened, Lila grabbed the girl and took her from him before moving back quickly. Tony had his gun up again before the man could go after Lila.

"I wouldn't move if I were you." He said.

**Present**

Tony frowned as the caller ID said it was Dan. He had exchanged numbers with the other man a few days before in case one of them was out of the room and Lila ended up waking up. It was a little creepy to see a dead man's name flash on the phone but Tony nonetheless answered it.

"DiNozzo." He said.

"Hello Tony." The answering voice made Tony freeze. "It's been a long time."

"Lester." Tony said, quietly.

"Glad to know you still recognize my voice." Lester said, laughing. "How's our girl doing?"

"Sorry to disappoint you but she's going to be fine." Tony said.

"Pity." Lester said. "Guess I'll just need to try harder next time, won't I?"

"There won't be a next time you sick bastard." Tony said.

"Of course there will be." Lester said. "There always is."

"Enjoy your victory while you can." Tony said, gritting his teeth. "It's going to end soon."

"We'll see." Lester said. "I'll be seeing you soon Tony."

"What?" Tony asked. He received no reply as the line went dead. He walked out of the room, dialing Gibbs to get Dan's phone tracked down.

**Eight and Half Years Ago - Baltimore**

"How did we get stuck with babysitter duty?" Tony asked.

"Because the closest relatives are a three hour flight away." Lila said, trying to get Lucy to eat. "And I really don't like the social services here."

"So...instead of being part of the interrogation, you volunteered us to take care of the girl until the relatives come?" Tony asked.

"Pretty much." Lila said. Tony sighed and sat down nearby. "Come on Lucy, I know you're hungry, I can hear that little tummy of yours grumbling." Tony raised an eyebrow and laughed slightly. Lila shot a look his way but he kept on smiling. She kept trying to feed the girl and made Tony answer the phone when it rang.

"Hello?" Tony said, holding the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" A feminine voice replied.

"Jill?" Tony asked.

"Tony?" Jill asked.

"Yeah, what's up?" Tony asked.

"Not much." Jill said. "When did you move in with Lila?"

"I uh...didn't." Tony said. "We're taking care of some kid and she told me to answer the phone."

"What?" Jill asked. Tony explained the situation without going into too much detail as he walked around the apartment. "Wow...that must have been bad for her."

"Why do you say that?" Tony asked.

"She never told you?" Jill asked. "Jonathan isn't her real dad. I mean he's mine and Nikki's dad but not Lila's. There's a little over five years between her and me. Lila's twenty seven, Tony, mom and dad have only been married twenty two years."

"So...Lila's real father..." Tony said.

"Beat her, yeah." Jill said.

"She seems so close to Jonathan though." Tony said, leaning on the wall.

"Trust me, she wasn't when she was younger." Jill said. "Wasn't until she was about ten I think that she started trusting him. I was always asking mom why Lila never got along with dad before, but he kept trying. Hard work pays off."

"Explains a lot." Tony said.

"Probably does." Jill said. "Anyways, that wasn't why I was calling."

"Obviously not." Tony said. "What's up?"

"I wanted to know if you guys were coming over for mother's day." Jill said. "I think we should do something really big and nice for mom."

"I'll let Lila know." Tony said.

"Great, tell her to call me." Jill said. "And you better come too, mom loves you."

"I'll see what I can do." Tony said. There was a noise from the kitchen, Lila yelled and little Lucy started laughing. "I gotta go check something out."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later Tony." Jill said.

"Yeah, later." Tony said. He hung up the phone and put it down as he made his way back to the kitchen. The food Lila had been trying to feed Lucy was all over the floor and the toddler. Tony raised an eyebrow then started laughing at the mess as Lila grumbled on it.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Lila said. "You get to put her in a bath."

"Why me?" Tony asked.

"Because I gotta clean this up." Lila said. Tony made a face. "Not so funny anymore is it?"

"You're just evil." Tony said, picking up Lucy and going to the bathroom. Lila smirked as she started cleaning and began yelling back and forward with Tony. "So who called?"

"Your sister." Tony yelled back.

"Which one?" Lila asked.

"Jill." Tony said.

"What she want?" Lila asked, raising her voice a little as she heard the tub start to fill up.

"Mother's day." Tony said. "Wanted to know if we were coming over. She wants to do something big and nice for your mom."

"So I should call her back." Lila said.

"Yeah." Tony said. Lila threw out the paper towels she had used for cleaning and got to work cleaning herself off. "Kids are squirmy when they're wet."

"Yep." Lila said, laughing slightly.

"Oh yeah, now you laugh." Tony said. "You are such a hypo..." His works got cut off as a splash echoed through the apartment and Lucy was once again laughing. Lila raised an eyebrow and went to the bathroom to find out what had happened. What she saw had her on the floor in a laughing fit.

Tony was sitting in the tub, completely soaked and covered in bubbles. Lucy was sitting at the other end of the tub, laughing and throwing more water and bubbles at him. Tony tried to glare at Lila but he couldn't keep it up and started laughing as well. Their laughter echoed around the bathroom as the three of them just sat around.

They hit another problem when it came to putting Lucy to bed. The toddler refused to sleep as Lila tucked her into the large bed. They had tried telling her stories, together and individually, but it didn't work.

"Oh come on, what do you want us to do?" Lila asked.

"Maybe you should sing." Tony suggested.

"Seriously?" Lila asked, looking at Tony.

"What could it hurt?" Tony asked, shrugging. Lila sighed and looked at Lucy. The little girl was watching them with expectant eyes.

"Hush now my little one, please don't you cry." Lila started singing. Tony raised an eyebrow. He had never heard her sing before. "Lay your head down, on my shoulder and sigh." It sounded familiar but he couldn't quite place where he had heard it before. "Sun's gone away, mama will pray." That brought his mind to the conclusion that at least it was something Carol had sung to Lila and her sisters. "Silence will keep out the world as you sleep."

"Where's that from?" Tony asked.

"My mom got it off Xena." Lila said. "You know...the Warrior Princess show. She used it with us once she figured it out."

"Oh." Tony said. Lila nodded and sang the lullaby again. It took a few repeats before they noticed Lucy was asleep.

"Finally." Lila whispered.

"She looks pretty small in your bed." Tony whispered. Lila grinned and nodded. They closed the door slightly and moved to the couch to relax. Tony was glad he had decided that they should be keeping clothes at each others' places just in case. He got to sit in dry clothes that were in own while the others were hung up on the curtain rod in the bathroom to dry.

"I've forgotten how tough kids can be." Lila said, leaning against Tony. "Been a while since I've had to take care of one."

"Oh?" Tony asked.

"I was ten when Nicole was born, Tony." Lila said. "I got to play babysitter for her and Jill when I was twelve."

"Fun." Tony said.

"Oh yeah, it was a blast." Lila said, laughing. She twisted a bit to get more comfortable and rested her head on Tony's shoulder. "So what exactly happened? How'd you end up in the tub?"

"I was sitting on the edge and slipped back." Tony said. Lila laughed again. "You think it's funny?"

"Yep." Lila said.

"Oh you are so getting it." Tony said. Before Lila could ask, he started tickling her. She tried to keep quiet in her laughing so she wouldn't wake up Lucy. Tony grinned as he turned things around, pressing Lila down onto the couch and leaning over her as his fingers skittered across her sides and stomach.

"Tony..." Lila moaned, drawing his name out. Tony paused. Lila took in deep breaths as she lay under him. Her face flushed, her hair all over, her chest heaving. Tony stared down at her.

Now he had been attracted to Lila since day one but with mess after mess he had tried to keep things simple and easy between them. They had only ever kissed on Christmas at her parents place. But at that moment, he couldn't keep up the restraint. He leaned down and kissed her, catching his partner off guard. Her reaction surprised him as her hands lifted up to hold his head and she moaned against his mouth. One of his hands swept down to run along her thigh as her leg lifted up over his hip. Her body pressed against his as her tongue ran across his lips.

"Tony..." Lila mumbled his name into the kiss. It took him a few seconds to register and he slowly pulled away. He looked down at her and memorized the look on her face.

"Not tonight." Tony muttered. Lila nodded. A smirk crossed his face. "But I'm definitely getting you tomorrow night. We have the day after off."

"Big plans?" Lila asked, grinning.

"Now." Tony said. Lila laughed slightly.

* * *

I hope Auntmo enjoyed that lol. Who thought Lila was going to be pregnant? lol, nope. But honestly, who could say that Tony with a little kid would not be the cutest thing? Well you know, least in this universe. Go into the Supernatural world and Dean as a dad is such an awesome thing lol.

Now the big question, if Lila and Tony are obviously going to end up dating, then how does he leave to join NCIS? Well that will be answered soon. I've totally deviated off my dream now, I don't really even remember much else of it anymore anyways.


	7. This Leaving Thing

**This Leaving Thing**

And now the twists begin lol. Wonder if Lester is going to get beat finally.

* * *

"That track on the phone work yet?" Tony asked, barging into the office. Tim and Ziva looked up in surprise.

"Who's..." Tim started.

"Ducky's there." Tony said, not even needing to be asked the full question. "Answer my question."

"Umm...well we've narrowed it down to a five mile radius so far." Tim said, looking at the large screen that showed a map with a red circle. "Somewhere in there."

"Somewhere in there?" Tony asked.

"Sorry but it was moving." Tim said. "Just be glad we got that much."

"I'll never be glad until this case on Randalls is closed for good." Tony said.

"DiNozzo, what are you doing here?" Gibbs asked, rounding the corner. Despite the question, he didn't seem surprised to find Tony standing in the office.

"The guy's trying to get to me." Tony said. "I need involved and he wouldn't expect me to leave Lila."

"No one would expect you to." Ziva said.

"Exactly." Tony said.

**Eight Years Ago - Baltimore**

"Dinny, knock it off." Lila whispered, trying not to laugh.

"Can't help it." Tony muttered. He used his arms which were wrapped around Lila from behind to pull her back against him as he kissed at her neck. Lila nearly dropped the files in her hands and lightly smacked one of his hands. "Hey, we just got back from a weekend with your family where I wasn't allowed to touch you at all because your dad was always around. I'm taking advantage of every opportunity I got right now."

"You're so hopeless." Lila said.

"You love it." Tony said. Lila grinned and slid the files into the cabinet. She was just glad they were in the one room that didn't have any windows into the main office area and they were alone. It wasn't as if it were some secret they were together now but there were rules. The had been together for a couple of months now and Tony felt a level of pride that not only had he been Lila's longest running partner for eighteen months but he had been her longest running boyfriend since finding out her fiancee was a criminal.

"Hey, Casanova, if we get in trouble, it's all your fault." Lila said. She closed the cabinet and leaned back against Tony. He grinned against her neck at finally winning.

They had gone to the beach with Lila's family. The previous visit had been when the news of them getting together had come out. That visit and this one both had Tony and Lila sleeping in separate rooms in separate levels of the house. Tony secretly missed having Lila's father trust him but he went along with it because he really did love the family.

The file room door was opened and they jumped apart as if they had been electrocuted. One of the office girls stood at the door. She looked a little embarrassed at walking in on but she also looked a little scared.

"Oh umm...sorry but uh...Miss Curtis...the umm...Pennsylvania state police are on the phone for you." The girl said. Tony looked from the girl to Lila.

"Okay." Lila said. She slipped out the room. Tony stood there for a minute after the office girl left before he walked over and went over to where his and Lila's desks were. He caught her just as she hung up the phone. One look at her and he knew what happened so he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. For the first time since their initial disastrous weekend away, Lila broke down into tears.

**Present**

"Found something." Tim called out. The team had gone to the general area that the cell phone had been traced to and had searched around. They were in an open field now by a wooded area. Tony, Ziva and Gibbs all moved into the woods to join Tim.

"Dan's cell phone." Tony said, looking down at the objects in front of Tim. He frowned and crouched down. "And..a necklace."

"A necklace?" Ziva asked.

"Locket." Tony said, picking up the object. He opened the locket and looked in to find a picture of Lila and her two sisters. "Nicole's."

"Who's Nicole?" Tim asked.

"Lila's youngest sister." Tony said.

"I thought her family..." Ziva said.

"They are." Tony cut off, standing up. He had the locket clenched in his hand.

"Let's get that phone to Abby, hopefully she can get something off it." Gibbs said. Tim nodded and bagged the phone.

**Eight Years Ago - Baltimore**

Tony was glad he never brought up the topic of moving in together with Lila. Sure, he had wanted to, but in the week and a half since they had heard that her parents' house had blown up with her parents and sisters inside, Lila had completely withdrawn into herself. Tony had gone with her back to Pennsylvania to set up arrangements for a funeral and everything that had been found intact was to be sent to Baltimore. She hadn't let him help with anything although he secretly did take charge of a few things that needed doing. He was losing Lila to her anger and he knew it but she just wouldn't let him back close. She was bent on hunting down Lester Randalls now and Tony was worried about her.

He felt ashamed of himself when he had moments of thinking of just letting her do as she wanted. He couldn't believe he felt like that but the more time that passed, the closer he got to giving up. The feeling got stronger every time Lila would snap at him. Things had actually gotten so bad one time that she nearly ended up letting a criminal get away. The boss had not been impressed and Lila had ended up with a suspension while Tony was made to work with another person.

"DiNozzo, this is special agent Leroy Gethro Gibbs from NCIS." Tony looked up from some paper work he had going to find the boss standing in front of him with an older looking man with him.

"Uh, hi." Tony said, standing up. He shook Gibbs' hand "Anthony DiNozzo."

"Heard a lot about you DiNozzo." Gibbs said. "I'd like to talk to you about...advancement." Tony raised an eyebrow.

**Present**

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs..." Abby's voice carried before she even came into sight. The team all looked up as the little goth girl rounded the corner looking overly excited.

"Tell us something good Abs." Gibbs said.

"We could use something good." Tony said. He still had the locket gripped in his hand. He had given it up for a few minutes for Abby to try and get something off it then had taken it right back.

"Well there was some hair on the phone that was definitely from Lester Randalls." Abby said. "He's slipping up, we could definitely get him nailed if we catch him."

"Any ideas on how to find him?" Tony asked.

"Uh...no." Abby said. "That's where my news ends. There's really only one person I can think of that would know."

"Who?" Ziva asked.

**Eight Years Ago - Baltimore**

"So...I sort of got offered a job." Tony said.

"Sort of?" Lila asked, moving around the kitchen of her apartment.

"Well...I mean...I don't know." Tony said. "It's at NCIS...in Washington."

"Wow." Lila said. Tony leaned in the doorway and watched her.

"The boss is taking you off the case for Randalls." He said. Lila paused then went back to doing what she was doing. "He said it's gotten too personal and he's worried about you."

"Everyone always worries about me." Lila said.

"This is different, Lila." Tony said. "This guy killed your first partner and now he's gone and taken your family." He moved into the kitchen and grabbed Lila's shoulders. She looked at his chest. "If you find this guy...Lila you're too damn sweet to let revenge take over you."

"Boss told you to talk me into accepting this, didn't he?" Lila asked. She shrugged his hands off and went to dishwasher to unload it. "You should accept."

"Huh?" Tony asked.

"The NCIS thing." Lila said.

"What?" Tony asked, frowning.

"You should accept the job for NCIS." Lila said. She straightened up and looked at him for the first time since he had walked through her front door. "That way...you'll be in Washington...and away from here."

"You want me to leave?" Tony asked. "After everything...you just want me to go? What happened to...nothing is going to split us up?" Lila looked away yet again. "So that's it? After everything, this is what's going to mess us up the most?"

"Tony please..." Lila said.

"What? What could you possibly say now to make any of this better?" Tony asked.

"Unless you leave, you're going to die, and I can't deal with one more person that I care about dying." Lila snapped. Tony paused and just stared at her. "He's going to come after you if...if he thinks we're...but if we're not anymore."

"Lila...I can't just leave you." Tony said.

"I...I have a plan." Lila said. "Please Tony. Please just...please take the job." She looked at him again and her eyes were begging. Tony sighed, knowing he really could never say no to her. Nodding slowly in acceptance, he crossed the kitchen to her and hugged her tightly.

"This Gibbs guy...he said he'd give me two days to think." Tony said. "So...we got tomorrow..." He didn't get to finish as Lila tilted her head up and kissed him. He returned the kiss, wondering if anything would work out for the better.

It would be their last together for God knew how long and they made a silent agreement to just enjoy it as they moved back towards the bedroom, shedding clothes on the way so that when they hit the bed, both were completely naked.

**Present**

"How do we get something out of an unconscious woman?" Ziva asked. She crossed her arms as she looked at Lila in the hospital bed.

"We don't." Gibbs said. "But he might." He nodded at Tony standing by the bed. His hand held Lila's hand, the locket between them. His eyes swept up and down her body repeatedly, unsure of what he should be looking for but looking nonetheless.

"Do you think she'll ever come out of this?" Ziva asked.

"I have high hopes for her." Ducky said. "She's strong. She put up with DiNozzo almost two years. Plus...he won't let her stay like this."

"It's been a while...if he won't let her, then why is she?" Ziva asked.

"Probably thinks it's safer for her to be unconscious right now." Gibbs said. Ziva nodded slowly. They watched Tony lean over and kiss Lila's forehead before sliding his hand from hers. "Well?"

"I think I know where he is." Tony said. He walked out of the room, making Gibbs and Ziva look at each other before following after him, leaving Ducky alone with the unconscious woman.

* * *

Oh so close to getting to the bottom of things. And will Lila wake up before or after the Lester Randalls confrontation?


	8. Save Me

**Save Me**

This chapter would have been up on Wednesday (Nov 3rd) but my computer had decided to contract a virus that corrupted the operating system, couldn't even actually turn it on because there was nothing to turn on. So it took a few days but it's back now and nothing had to get erased so I was just super happy about that.

Super excited for this chapter! I've been waiting for this moment since I started the story lol. Plus I don't remember if it was ever said when Tony and Lila last saw each other after he joined NCIS so we're just gonna stick with how this chapter says it for the sake of, well, the story.

* * *

Ducky sat in the hospital room, the overhead light at a dim setting but it was still light enough to read his book without trouble. He felt anxious and kept glancing over at the unconscious woman lying in the bed, almost as if he was starting to expect something. A thin golden chain was wound loosely around her hand, connected to the locket that rested in her palm. Ducky raised an eyebrow when he saw her hand clenched around the locket. A few minutes ago, it was relaxed.

"Delilah?" Ducky asked softly, putting his book down and walking over to the bed. He gingerly put his hand over hers and looked her over. "Delilah, can you hear me?" Her hand twitched and a grin crossed the doctor's face. "That's it...come on, wake up." She let out a soft noise as her face creased to a frown. "I know it's hard Delilah but you have to wake up." Ducky paused and, if he was ever asked later, he would never have been able to tell anyone why he said what he said next. "Tony's in trouble...he needs you."

Large brown eyes snapped open then blinked several times, disoriented. The hand being held by Ducky twitched and he let it go carefully as he took a slight step back to not overwhelm Lila. The heart monitor went a little faster then it was previously and she tilted her head back to look at it. Understanding dawned on her as her eyes shifted over to Ducky.

"Dr Mallard?" Lila asked, confused and sounding a little rough.

"Well at least your memory is in tact." Ducky said, smiling. "How do you feel?"

"I...I'm...where's Tony?" Lila asked, attempting to sit up.

"He's not here." Ducky said. He put his hand on Lila's shoulder to keep her down.

"Where is he?" Lila asked.

"He...he and the others...they went to find..." Ducky stalled, unsure of whether he should tell her. The heart monitor picked up again as Lila's eyes widened and she struggled against his hand to sit up. "Delilah please calm down. You've only just woken up, you shouldn't..."

"He can't!" Lila said. She frowned and tossed off the blanket. She disconnected the heart monitor and twisted around to shut it off before the buzzing drew in more attention.

"What are you doing?" Ducky asked.

"Dr Mallard, Randalls is going to kill Tony!" Lila said, turning back to face Ducky. "Please, I know Tony, I know he's got it figured out. You have to get me there."

"Delilah, Tony has the other members of his team with him." Ducky said. "There's no danger to him."

"No, please, you don't understand." Lila said.

**Three Weeks Ago - Washington**

"Another day, another round, eh Delilah?" Lester asked, smiling. Lila glared at him as best she could. She was on her knees, her arms cuffed behind her back and attached to a small chain in the wall. "I think you're almost ready."

"Ready for what?" Lila asked.

"Ready to show your delightful ex-boyfriend what I can do." Lester said, crouching down in front of Lila. "Do you know where we are Delilah?"

"Enlighten me." Lila said.

"We're in Washington." Lester said. Lila froze, trying to keep her face expressionless. "Right near where good old Tony is. You're going to send him a message for me."

"No." Lila said.

"You don't have a choice." Lester said. He snapped his fingers and another man came over. "See this man here? He's an ex-naval officer, one of my boys now. You're going to play hunter and the rabbit. Guess what part you are?"

"Why the hell are you doing this you sick twisted little freak?" Lila asked, straining her wrists in the cuffs.

"Because I haven't gotten the chance to really mess with our good friend, special agent Anthony DiNozzo in such a long time." Lester said. He punched Lila in the side of the head, causing her to fall to her side. She was too dazed to do anything when she felt her hands getting released. It didn't matter much because a few seconds later they were in front of her, getting tied with rope. "Now, be a good little girl."

"Go to hell." Lila said. She bite back a yelp when she was roughly pulled to her feet.

"You and my boy here...one way or another...Tony's gonna get a message." Lester said. "Don't try anything sneaky now. Our friend needs to know that I'm here afterall." He smiled and pushed Lila to the other man.

**Present**

"Me and that guy...we moved closer to NCIS." Lila said, telling the story quickly all while letting Ducky help her walk around the room. "When I tried getting away, he chased after me. I thought if I killed him I could get away and keep Tony from ever getting involved again. Obviously not...after I did...kill the guy...I tried getting further away but didn't make it. Got through some trees and that's the last I remember."

"So this whole thing has been one big trap." Ducky said.

"Yes, that's why we need to get to Randalls before Tony does." Lila said. "Or at least before Randalls can do anything."

"You're talking about sneaking you out of a hospital room that's already heavily guarded to keep anyone from getting it." Ducky said.

"Between the two of us, I'm sure we can come up with some way." Lila said.

"How? The only people allowed in here are your doctors and NCIS and I don't think your doctors will..." Ducky paused and slowly looked at Lila. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Delilah...how do you feel about black?"

"This is starting to seem far too easy." Ziva whispered as they circled around the house. It looked like just a regular old house. Tony remembered it from Lila's last visit years ago when they had gone for a drive and she had pointed it out. To most people, it was just a house, but to Lila and Tony, it looked like her parents' place.

There was a _for sale_ sign in the front yard, just like the last time he had seen it. He wondered if anyone ever really bought the place.

"Everyone stay alert." Gibbs said. The team stayed low as they moved toward the house. Tony kept his eyes on it and could have sworn he saw a curtain move. Gibbs tested the doorknob and found it turning easily in his hand, the door opening without a sound. That sent off a warning signal in Tony's mind but he ignored it as they moved into the house and spread out. While the others took the main floor and upstairs, he went down to the basement. It was completely unnerving when he got down the stairs and found it to be a near exact double of Lila's 'apartment' in her parents' house. The television was on but muted and there was a man sitting on the couch.

He looked only a few years older then Tony himself with light brown hair cut neat and a goatee. He was dressed in a navy blue suit with a black tie. He had a lit cigar rolling between his fingers. Tony didn't do anything, just stood there, waiting to get acknowledged. He could hear noises from the upper levels and they weren't exactly nice ones but they weren't gunshots. Slowly, the man turned to look at him. When Tony had walked into the room, he only saw one half of the man's face. Now he saw the other and winced slightly at the scars and missing ear.

"Your girlfriend does good work." The man said, simply, gesturing at his scars.

"I knew I had a reason to be proud of her." Tony said. "You know this is it right?"

"Is it?" The man asked. "And no card?" He put the cigar to his mouth.

"We have all we need on you, Randalls." Tony said. "You're not getting away ever again."

"You say that...but you don't really mean it." Lester said, exhaling smoke. He rose to his feet and turned off the television. "Do you like the set up?"

"You're sick." Tony said. Lester smiled. "For a man going to jail, you're certainly happy."

"Oh I have a little secret." Lester said. "And eight year long secret. Oh...and...a six year old one. So I have two secrets."

"What?" Tony asked.

"One of them is in the bedroom. Go ahead and look, I'll wait." Lester said. Curiousity got the better of Tony and he moved to the bedroom. He could hear a voice in there and frowned. Slowly he turned the knob and opened the door. There was a woman standing with her back to the door. Light brown hair cascaded down her back in slight curls. A black shirt and blue jeans covered her body. As she turned, he looked up to meet familiar blue eyes widened behind simple glasses. Tony stared in disbelief, his jaw hanging open, his own eyes wide in shock. For a long time, neither said anything, just stared at each other, hardly believing what they were seeing.

"Nicole?" Tony said finally.

**Six Years Ago - Washington**

"Visitor DiNozzo." Kate said, walking past Tony's desk. The addressed man looked up and couldn't help but smile at the woman walking from the elevator to his desk. Her hair was once again light brown, she had changed it back last year. Tony stood up, his eyes traveling down over the woman's bare legs beneath her shorts.

"Lila, you definitely know how to surprise a guy." He said, moving around his desk to hug her tightly.

"Like you're complaining." Lila said, laughing.

"Well considering you were just here three months ago and usually your visits are more spaced out then this...nah, I'm not complaining." Tony said, smiling brightly. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Oh you know...I was...around." Lila said, shrugging as she toyed with a pen on Tony's desk. "Thought I'd swing by."

Tony only knew that she had left Baltimore PD a couple of months after he had transferred to NCIS. He didn't know where she worked now or what she did but she sounded and looked okay every time he saw or spoke to her so he wouldn't complain about the lack of knowledge. He knew that it was at least a similar job to what they had been doing and he was wondering if it was CIA or something along those lines that she had joined. Something that moved her around a lot, he knew that much.

"LILA!" The pair looked as Abby can sprinting over from the elevator. The goth girl collided with the other one and Tony had to grab Lila's shoulders to keep her from falling.

"I've only been in here for four minutes." Lila said. "How do you know these things?"

"I'm just that good." Abby said.

"Well I'm two down now...Kate, you want a hug too?" Lila asked, looking at the desk across from Tony's. Kate looked up from whatever work she was doing and swiftly shook her head. Lila laughed. "Can't say I didn't offer."

"So what's up Lila?" Abby asked, stepping back. "You don't usually visit this frequently."

"I was in the area." Lila repeated. "Umm...guys, not that I don't love seeing the two of you because, well, that's always my favourite part of being in Washington, but uh...do you know where Gibbs is?"

"Well he was..." Tony started.

"Right here." Gibbs said, walking over to them. "Delilah."

"Hey Gibbs." Lila said. "I have a favour to ask of you."

"Alright." Gibbs said. "Come with me." Lila extracted herself from between Tony and Abby and followed the older man to an empty briefing room. "So Delilah, what can I do for you?"

**Present**

Gibbs heard the noises on the main level but ignored them as he searched through the rooms on the upper floor. He had been through two bedrooms and a bathroom with only one more bedroom and the attic to look in. He carefully opened the last bedroom door and quickly knocked out the man in there. He looked around but saw nothing else of interest. Looking in the closet, all that was there was some clothes for a little boy.

Only one place to look now.

He moved out of the room and looked down over the stairs. There were still noises and then a man was thrown to the bottom of the stairs, unconscious. Gibbs smiled slightly and moved to stand under the hatch for the attic. He looked up at it then reached up and pulled the cord.

**Six Years Ago - Washington**

"Tony never knows alright?" Lila asked. "Not until Randalls is put away for good."

"That might not be the best idea." Gibbs said, crossing his arms.

"I know it's not the best, but it's all I got right now." Lila said. "Even these visits are getting bad. Gibbs, I can't...I can't endanger Tony."

"What happens if he finds out on his own?" Gibbs asked.

"Then I'll deal with that then." Lila said. "You're the only person who knows anything. You're the only person I know who's like a vault. Please Gibbs, it's not the best idea, I know that, but I'm hoping it'll only be for a short while."

"I won't tell him." Gibbs said. "This is your stuff to tell."

"Thank you." Lila said.

"Once this is done though...I might expect you on my team." Gibbs said. Lila smiled slightly at that. "You'd be good to have."

"Thank you." Lila said. "Once this job is done...I'll definitely get back to you on that." Gibbs grinned and nodded.

**Present**

Finally.

Standing on the ladder to the attic, Gibbs looked to the only spot where there was light. In the corner of the small empty room was a young boy with a baseball cap over his head, huddled in a large coat, wide brown eyes stared fearfully at Gibbs.

"It's alright." Gibbs said, staying put. "I'm Gibbs. Do you remember me?" After a moment, the little boy nodded and slowly started to crawl over. "I'm going to get you out of here. We'll get you to see your mom real soon." The boy was close enough now that, when Gibbs held out his hand, he touched the child's arm. The boy was still cautious but he knew the old man so he would trust him. He allowed Gibbs to help him down the ladder then they both stood at the top of the stairs and listened for signs of anything happening on the lower levels.

* * *

So Nicole...Lila's sister...is alive? I just twisted this story right up. Eight years she's been with Lester Randalls...wow. I was originally not going to have any flashbacks in this, except for the one with Lila and Lester, but then I realized that a few extra things needing to be added in so the exact flashbacks were thrown in. Hopefully I won't need any next chapter.


	9. Here For You

**Here For You**

Well this story is almost done with. I feel like I'm updating for just one person but that's fine with me, I love her, she's awesome.

And I lied last chapter, there's gonna be another flashback in this chapter.

* * *

"You're alive?" Tony asked, stepping into the room.

"He..he told me you and Lila were dead." Nicole said. "That...that you guys came back...some reason, and got caught in some explosion at the house."

"We were just there." Tony said. "I know we love you guys but that would have been too soon of a visit for me to deal with your dad." He glanced back out of the room then looked at Nicole. "You do know..." He nodded towards the other room.

"I know who he is." Nicole said, rolling her eyes slightly. "I'm not that stupid."

"Nicole, we have to get you out of here." Tony muttered. Nicole looked uncomfortable all of a sudden and Tony wondered if she was going to start exhibiting Stockholm syndrome. "Nikki...I'm serious...look this guy helped put your sister in a coma! She's in a hospital right now, fighting for her life. Eight years Nikki...we thought you were dead for eight years. Lila lost it!" Nicole looked down, her arms crossing loosely over her stomach. Tony frowned slightly and his mind came up with every possible scenario.

"I think this little reunion is done with." Lester stood at the doorway, now with a gun. "Back to the other room now, both of you." Tony and Nicole walked slowly from the bedroom. Lester followed them then quickly put an arm around Nicole, holding her as a shield in case Tony pulled a gun or someone else came in.

"You're even worse then I originally thought." Tony said, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the other man. Lester just laughed and Nicole winced as his arm tightened around her. "Let her go."

"Why, so you can shoot me?" Lester asked.

"You're a coward, hiding behind a young girl." Tony said. He had to be careful how he did his goading. He didn't want Lester to just turn and shoot Nicole. He couldn't hear anything from the upper levels and wondered how his team was holding out.

"Insurance policy." Lester said, and for the first time he actually looked unsure. Tony was a little surprised that Lester might actually be starting to think that he really couldn't get away this time.

"It's all over Randalls." He said. "You got a run, over ten years. Time's up."

"No." Lester said, tightening his hold on Nicole once more. She grimaced and tried to wiggle away but froze when the gun came to rest on her head. "Behave Princess."

"Let her go." Tony said, teeth gritting. He'd be damned if he'd let this psycho kill someone that meant so much to himself and Lila. "You wanna shoot someone...shoot me!"

"What?" Nicole asked.

"If you insist." Lester said, turning the gun away. A door opened behind him just as the gun went off. Tony stumbled back against the wall, mentally saying thanks to Gibbs for making him wear a bulletproof vest under his coat. It still hurt and he could hear Nicole screaming and then there was a cracking sound and Tony looked up.

At first he thought that Abby was the one standing over Lester who was now lying on the floor, looking surprised. One of her hands held a tire iron while the other, still wrapped in a cast, went forward and linked through Nicole's arm, dragging her back. Tony frowned slightly, about to open his mouth to ask what the hell Abby was thinking, when he realized that it wasn't her. It was her clothes of course, but the woman wearing them wasn't his bouncy little goth forensics friend.

"Lila?" Tony was amazed he could say anything at that moment. Lila glanced at him and flashed a quick smile before returning her gaze to Lester as he got to his feet.

"You live through anything, don't you?" Lester said, glaring at the new comer.

"I'm persistent." Lila said, holding the tire iron up again.

"I can tell." Lester said.

"You're not getting out of this alive." Lila said. "I know you real well by now. You'll just get out of jail, pay your way out." Tony couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew, of course, that Lila was right, but he couldn't believe that she was implying that she was going to actually kill the man. She could never kill someone, never had been able to. Although now that he thought about it, she must have been the one to off the man on the beach near where they had found her.

"Then do it." Lester said, holding his arms out. "Come on Lila, do it. Hit me...kill me. You know you want to."

"Don't think I won't." Lila said. While she looked determined, Tony could tell she was faltering. He slowly started reaching for his gun.

"Then do it." Lester repeated. Lila frowned and lifted the tire iron but didn't move to strike.

The second Tony noticed that Lester had his hand bent, aiming his own gun towards Lila and Nicole, was the second that Nicole had grabbed Lila and both girls fell to the floor just as the gun went off. A second gunshot went off and Lester stumbled before falling across the coffee table in the middle of the room, a bullet wound in his back. Tony looked to his side to find Ziva, a gash on her forehead and a split lip, standing next to him with her gun raised. She slowly lowered it and looked at Tony.

"Nice timing." Tony said. Ziva smiled slightly before the two of them went over to the girls. "Lila? Nikki?"

"Ow." Lila said. "Definitely not healed up enough for that sort of fall." She sat up, rubbing her arm. She looked at Tony. "Bulletproof vest?"

"Yep." Tony said, reaching forward to push Lila's hair out of her face.

"Good boy." Lila said. She suddenly paused and frowned slightly. "What did you say...Nikki?" Tony nodded over at Ziva who was crouched by Nicole and checking a bruise that was on the girl's neck. Lila looked over slowly and her eyes widened. "Oh my god."

"Lila." Nicole said, looking a little uncertain. There was second where no one did anything and then the sisters were hugging and crying.

"I almost expected that to be your first action when you saw her awake." Ziva said, looking at Tony.

"I'll get my hug soon enough." Tony said.

"Why is she wearing Abby's clothing?" Ziva asked.

"How should I know?" Tony asked.

"Abby's sitting in the hospital room in a hospital gown right now." Lila said, looking at the two NCIS agents. "I needed to get here and convinced Ducky of that. He called Abby in and we switched clothes so when I walked out of the room, the guards would just think I was her."

"Now that's just sneaky." Tony said. Lila smiled slightly. Tony helped the sisters to their feet and got his hug from Lila when she threw her arms around him and leaned against his chest.

A few minutes later they were standing outside surrounded by police cars and ambulances. Tony and Ziva stood back, letting the sisters have a private moment to talk. Tim joined them, his arm in a sling, and said nothing as the three of them stood by and watched Lila and Nicole. Lila held out the locket and Nicole happily put it back around her neck.

"Hey guys...where's Gibbs?" Tony asked after a few minutes of just watching.

"I saw him over at an ambulance there." Tim said, pointing to an ambulance a small distance from the one they were near. They could see the back of Gibbs' head so they all just turned their attention back to Lila and Nicole. As they watched, Nicole stood up and hugged Lila before walking over to the agents, leaving Lila to get fussed over by paramedics.

"How you holding up?" Tony asked, giving Nicole a light hug.

"I don't know yet." Nicole said, sighing. "I...I never held any illusion that...Lester was a good guy or anything. But...eight years...I...I don't know how I'll behave or anything yet."

"We're here for you." Tony said. "Come here. These are special agents Tim McGee and Ziva David."

"Hi." Nicole said, smiling slightly as she shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you." Ziva said.

"Yeah, like she said." Tim said.

DiNozzo, David, McGee." Gibbs said, walking over. His hand was being held tightly by the little six year old boy he had found in the attic. The agents looked at him then at the child.

"Nicky, you're okay!" Nicole said, dropping to her knees. The little boy paused then let go of Gibbs' hand and ran into Nicole's arms. The baseball hat flew off his head as he ran and light brown hair was revealed. Tony tilted his head, looking at the boy's large brown eyes then at Nicole's blue eyes. He frowned slightly, remembering that Lester had blue eyes as well.

"Who is the child, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"That's Nicolas." Gibbs said, crossing his arms loosely. "He's six." He looked at Tony who was too busy doing mental comparisons.

Nothing in the kid reminded him of Lester. The hair was too light to really match with Nicole's. Their noses however were the same as the whole family's had been. Overall, there were resemblances but something was just off. He couldn't quite figure it out and it bugged him. Maybe the boy wasn't Lester's but Tony didn't want to think of who else would possibly have done things to Nicole. Poor innocent little Nicole who had only been sixteen the last time he saw her. Twenty four now. It hurt to think that even just one person had violated the girl in any way.

"Looks like Delilah's done getting checked by the paramedics." Tim said. All eyes turned towards the ambulance as Lila walked over to them. She moved slowly, still sore and obviously weak. Tony could only guess that she had pulled something on the paramedics to let her come see them rather then have them all called over to her. She was tricky that way.

"MOMMY!" Nicky spoke up for the first time. Tony's eyes widened as he watched the boy pull himself from Nicole and ran at Lila. He stared, hardly believing it, as Lila got down to hug Nicky tightly. His mind started going into overdrive. Six...the boy was six. Lila was his mom. Last time Tony saw Lila was six years ago and they had slept together. Nicky's eyes, they were Lila's large brown ones. And the hair...it was like his own hair, he knew that. Other visual similarities between himself and the boy popped into his mind, one right after the other, faster then he could keep track.

**Six Years Ago - Washington**

"This is the worst part." Tony said, wrapping his arms around Lila.

"I know, but I have to go." Lila said. They stood in an airport, Lila had to be on her way to Seattle soon.

"Why can't you just stay?" Tony asked. "How dangerous would it be?"

"Too dangerous." Lila said. She tilted her head up and kissed him softly. "Tony, there are some things going on, that right now I just can't tell you. But I need to know that you trust me and you trust that when it's all over, you'll learn everything."

"I always trust you." Tony said.

"Can you promise me that...when you do find out...you won't be mad at me?" Lila asked.

"Do I ever get mad at you?" Tony asked.

"Sometimes." Lila said. Smiling slightly. "But not for long."

"Exactly." Tony said. He kissed her again and this one went on longer.

"Remember when we were talking about names?" Lila asked. Tony nodded. You never did answer me when I asked what you would pick."

"I don't know." Tony said, running his hand over Lila's hip. "I guess...for a girl I might use Isabelle...for a boy, probably Nicolas. Never really thought much on it to be honest. Think the last time I put any effort into thinking on names was when we were babysitting that kid."

"Mr bubbles." Lila said, laughing.

"Hey, least it's not as bad as all the spaghetti sauce you got." Tony said, grinning.

"Now boarding flight to Seattle." The speakers announced.

"I have to go." Lila said.

"Take care of yourself alright?" Tony asked. He toyed with a loose strand of hair. "And come back soon."

"I'll try." Lila said, her eyes flashing a hint of sadness but it was gone before Tony could really see. "Don't forget your promise, Dinny."

"I won't." Tony said.

**Present**

He finally understood what she meant the last time he had seen her. What she was hiding, what she had made him promise. She was pregnant that last time. Tony looked at Gibbs and realized the older man knew the whole time. He looked back at Lila and Nicky. He felt mixed emotions, anger being one of them at first. He had a son for six years and didn't even know about it. But the anger faded away as he understood Lila's reasons for not telling him.

"Tony." Nicole said. Tony blinked and shook his head to get himself refocused. He looked at Nicole as she stood nearby. She smiled slightly and nodded over at her sister. "You should...you know."

"Yeah." Tony said, nodding. He patted Nicole's shoulder then walked over to Lila. She looked up as he got closer.

"Nicky...this is Tony DiNozzo." Lila said, turning her son around gently to look at Tony. Nicky's face scrunched up slightly as if he were trying to remember something. Lila squeezed his shoulders, smiling softly. Tony got caught off guard when the little boy came to him and hugged his legs. Lila stood up carefully and brushed her hair out of her face. "He umm...he knows."

"Oh." Tony said, nodding. He watched Lila chew on her lip. He knew she was waiting for his reaction. He smiled a bit and got down on one knee to be on Nicky's level. "So...you're my boy huh?"

"That's what mom says." Nicky said.

"Couldn't have asked for someone better." Tony said, smiling. Nicky actually smiled back and threw his arms around Tony. Lila smiled as she watched them. "You been taking care of your mom for me?"

"Yep." Nicky said. "Well...I been trying. Didn't do too good."

"Nah, you did just fine." Tony said. "Between you and me...your mom is a little crazy. She gets herself in trouble all the time. But I can tell, you stayed brave through this. And that actually helped a lot more then you know."

"Really?" Nicky asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Oh yeah." Tony said, nodding. "In fact, you were so brave, that...you're going to get to be an honorary member of NCIS."

"Cool!" Nicky said. Tony smiled and looked at Lila as she laughed. "Mom did you hear that?"

"Yeah, hun, I heard." Lila said. "Can you go talk to Gibbs while I talk to you dad for a bit?"

"Do I have to?" Nicky asked.

"Please?" Lila asked.

"Oh okay." Nicky said. Lila smiled and bent down to kiss his forehead. "Ew, mom! Not in front of the ambulance people!" Lila laughed as Nicky wiped at his forehead and walked away.

"Good kid." Tony said.

"Yeah." Lila said. "Really smart too. No idea where he got that from."

"Hey!" Tony said. Lila smiled. "Could have gotten it from me."

"Oh come on Dinny." Lila said. "You're not exactly..." She was cut off by Tony kissing her. She carefully wound her arms around his neck while his snaked around her waist.

Tony knew that this time, she was staying. No one was going to leave this time.

* * *

Aww, everyone's together now! And yeah, it was a little mean of Lila to stop talking to Tony after she gets pregnant but she was seriously just out to protect him. People do what they can to keep people they care about safe.


	10. Start of New Things

**Start of New Things**

I have one story shorter then this one, and one that's only two chapters longer. This is really one of my shortest stories but I never planned to make it a long one so I'm okay lol.

And just think, all of this sprouted from one little dream that I honestly can still remember some of lol. Of course, the part that I remember was never used in this story but I really could not think of a place to put it.

* * *

"Private Jeffery Davidson case is closed, good work guys." Gibbs said, walking into the office area and sitting at his desk. Lila, perched on the edge of Tony's desk, looked over at the older man and grinned.

"Good work Lila more like." Tony said. "Not even I knew she could run that fast."

"You try keeping up with a six year old on a regular basis." Lila said.

"I have been for the last three months." Tony said.

"Speaking of the six year old...it is Tuesday." Ziva said. "Twelve after three."

"Yes, thanks for the update." Tony said. He paused. "Oh...wait." He jumped out of his chair and ran for the elevator, getting there just before it opened. He caught Nicky as his son jumped up at him, almost getting his chin whacked by the NCIS cap sitting on the boy's head. Nicole stepped out of the elevator, grinning, with a hand on her partly rounded stomach. "Hey buddy!"

"How did you know?" Nicky exclaimed, laughing.

"I'm psychic." Tony said, lifting Nicky up.

"You too?" Nicky asked, sighing.

"You'll get it when you're older." Nicole said, removing Nicky's cap and ruffling her nephew's hair.

"Aunt Nikki!" Nicky said, frowning. Tony laughed slightly as Nicole put the cap back on Nicky's head and they went over to join the others.

"Hey hey little man, how was school?" Tim asked.

"It was okay." Nicky said. "Little boring though. Work's too easy and nothing exciting ever happens there."

"How you doing?" Lila asked, looking at her sister and keeping her voice low.

"I'm good." Nicole said, biting her lip slightly.

"It's not gonna be anything like him." Lila said, patting Nicole's stomach. "My little niece is gonna be just like her momma and nothing like her father."

"How do you know it's going to be a girl?" Nicole asked.

"Because I have a boy." Lila said. "And Jill would kill us if she knew neither of us had a girl to name after her."

"You hear that in there?" Nicole asked, looking at her stomach. "You have to be a girl because your one auntie will find a way to get to mommy if you're not." Lila laughed.

"Are you guys having girlie discussions again?" Tony asked. "Why do you never invite Ziva into those?"

"What?" Ziva asked, looking at Tony.

"Because I can't imagine her being more willing into them then Kate ever was." Lila said.

"Glad we have that cleared." Ziva said.

"We love ya Z!" Lila said, giving the other woman a thumbs up. Ziva shook her head but smiled slightly.

"You two were just meant for each other weren't you?" Tim asked, staring at Lila and Tony.

"I like the sounds of that." Tony said, putting his free around around Lila as he still held Nicky at his side.

"Mom do I have to keep going to school?" Nicky asked. "The kids are so boring. And they all call me Einstein."

"Well come on now buddy, you're a genius." Tony said. "You should take that as a compliment."

"Doesn't sound like one." Nicky grumbled. "The teacher's letting me do stuff the older kids are doing if I finish the stuff my class is doing."

"You are going to grow up so fast." Lila said. "Slow down just a little sweetie." She looked over at Gibbs who was currently deep in conversation on the phone and she wondered who he was talking to.

"This is something I never understood." Tim said. "How does someone like Tony...have a kid like Nicky?"

"Hey!" Tony said. "I can be plenty smart when I want to be." Lila laughed. "I can and you know it little missy."

"You're very resourceful." Lila stated.

"Damn straight!" Tony said. He paused and glanced at Nicky. "Darn! I said darn!" Nicky just laughed and squirmed enough to get Tony to put him down.

"Can I go to a different school if I have to keep going to school?" The boy asked. Everyone looked at him.

"Wouldn't that be suggesting putting him in private school or something like that?" Tony asked, looking at Lila.

"Uh...sort of, yeah." Lila said.

"Oh man." Tony said. "I'm gonna have a kid in a uniform that's not for sports." Lila elbowed him lightly.

"If he really wants to, I'm sure we can manage it." She said.

"I can look up some good places for you guys if you like." Tim said.

"Sure McGee, thanks." Lila said, smiling.

"He's right, school is boring." Nicole said. "I don't remember it ever being so lame. I mean the stuff I'm learning at the adult center is just...blah."

"My twenty four year old sister still says blah." Lila said, shaking her head. "The world is going to explode."

"Hey!" Nicole said. Lila smiled innocently.

"Your house must be so much fun." Tim said, grinning at Tony. The older agent just glared lightly at his friend.

"Tony, he's just joking around." Lila said. "Oh we need to go shopping tonight, need a few things."

"Didn't we just go shopping?" Tony asked.

"Last week." Lila said. "It's a weekly thing, Dinny."

"We're back to that name, are we?" Tony asked.

"You love it." Lila said. Tony couldn't help but grin as he pulled Lila against his side.

"Hey!" Tim said. "You two know the rule, none of that kissy face in the office!"

"Ew!" Nicky whined. "Dad! Why do you always gotta kiss mom? And in front of me!"

"Because she's awesome." Tony said.

"Girls are weird." Nicky grumbled. He sat in the chair at Tony's desk and promptly began to spin himself around in it.

"And he says girls are weird." Nicole whispers to Lila. The older sister laughed slightly. Tony walked over to the desk and crouched by the chair, stopping it when he put his hand on the arm.

"You know...you say girls are weird now...but you'll grow up to like them." He said.

"I will?" Nicky asked, sounding doubtful.

"You like Abs, don't ya?" Tony asked. Nicky went red and tugged his cap down to hide his face. Tony laughed and shook his head. "See...you're already on the way. Maybe just find someone more your age."

"Everyone my age are boring." Nicky said.

"Yeah, you've said that." Tony said. He patted his son on the shoulder and straightened up. "Don't worry buddy, you'll find someone. You have a lot of time." Nicky looked up at Tony and smiled slightly.

"Look at you...being all big and parenty." Lila said, smiling at Tony. "You are amazing."

"Tell me something I don't know." Tony said.

"And now the amazingness is gone." Lila said.

"Oh come on!" Tony said.

"Maybe it's come back later." Lila said, winking. "We do have to go shopping though."

"Oh...fine." Tony said.

"Tony is so stroked." Ziva said.

"Whipped, Ziva." Tim said. "You know..." he made whipping actions and sounds then smiled innocently when Tony turned to glare at him.

"We just got a call from the FBI." Gibbs said, hanging up the phone.

"FBI?" Lila asked. "What do they want?"

"Apparently we're getting three agents visiting tomorrow." Gibbs said.

"What for?" Tim asked.

"The Dent case from last week." Gibbs said.

"The one with the weird anomalies that Ducky found?" Lila asked.

"The one and the same." Gibbs said. "We're getting Agents Scott, Clavin and Lennix from the Kansas City office." Everyone paused and looked at each other.

"Why are they coming all the way over here?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know." Gibbs said. "McGee, do a look up on them, find out all you can on these three."

"On it boss." McGee said.

"Aww man." Lila said suddenly, groaning.

"What?" Tony asked.

"I won't be here to see them." Lila grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Oh that's right, my appointment." Nicole said. Lila sighed and nodded. "Sucks to be you, huh sis?"

"Oh bite me." Lila said. Nicole grinned.

"I'll fill you in on it." Tony said, rubbing Lila's arm.

"You better." Lila said. She looked at Nicky who was starting to get bored before looking at Gibbs. "We done for the day?"

"Yeah, you and DiNozzo can get out of here." Gibbs said. He pointed at Tony. "But you need to be here tomorrow."

"Trust me, boss." Tony said, grabbing his stuff. "Much rather be here with new FBI folks then at another doctor's appointment."

"What do you mean 'another' doctor's appointment?" Lila asked as she, Tony, Nicky and Nicole all headed to the elevator. "You've never been to one."

"Yes I have." Tony said.

"That's not for yourself." Lila said.

"Well then...I'm not going to start." Tony said.

"Then you better not knock me up again because I will make you." Lila said. Tony froze as the elevator doors opened and the other three stepped inside.

"You wouldn't." He said. Lila just smiled and pulled him into the elevator.

As the door was closing everyone could hear Tony muttering "Condoms, condoms, condoms...always remember condoms", which made the whole office burst into laughter, especially when behind Tony's words were Nicky's words of "what are condoms?".

_**The End**_

_**

* * *

**_

So in case there's curiousity about the visiting FBI agents, go read AuntMo's story, Immortal Slumber. Chapter 9 and onward of that story has Supernatural characters Dean Winchester and the Archangel Gabriel, as well as her own character Annie, posing as FBI agents to get information from NCIS. This chapter, and her last chapter of that story, will be the starters for a story we are doing together, which is yet to be named, but will be an SPN and NCIS crossover with all the goodness of both stories under a new account name, KitMo.

I hope you've enjoyed this story and hopefully you check out AuntMo's because it's adorable at times and very very cool all together and, hopefully again, you check out our combined work.


End file.
